Yes / An influential review in 2010 concluded that non-pharmacological multi-component interventions
have positive effects on cognitive functioning, activities of daily living, behaviour and mood of
people with dementia. Our aim here is to provide an up-to-date overview of research into
psychosocial interventions and their impact on psychosocial outcomes. We focused on
randomised controlled trials, controlled studies and reviews published between October 2008
and August 2015, since the earlier review. The search of PsychInfo, Medline and the Cochrane
database of systematic reviews yielded 61 relevant articles, organised into four themes echoing
key phases of the care pathway: Living at home with dementia (five reviews, eight studies), carer
interventions (three reviews, four studies), interventions in residential care (16 reviews, 12
studies) and end-of-life care (three reviews, two studies), along with an additional group
spanning community and institutional settings (six reviews, two studies). Community findings
suggested that appointment of dementia specialists and attention to case management can
produce positive outcomes; physical therapies, cognitive training and modified cognitive
behaviour therapy also had a range of benefits. There was more limited evidence of positive
benefits for people with dementia through interventions with family carers. Thirty-two articles
focused on the management of ‘behavioural symptoms’ through a range of interventions all of
which had some evidence of benefit. Also a range of multi-component and specific interventions
had benefits for cognitive, emotional and behavioural well-being of people with dementia in
residential settings, as well as for quality of life. Overall, interventions tended to be short term
with impact only measured in the short term. We recommend further research on interventions
to promote living well in the community post-diagnosis and to address end-of-life care.
Development of psychosocial interventions would benefit from moving beyond the focus on
control of behaviours to focus on wider aspects of life for people with dementia.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BRADFORD/oai:bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:10454/8606 |
| Date | 24 May 2016 |
| Creators | Oyebode, Jan, Parveen, Sahdia |
| Source Sets | Bradford Scholars |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Article, Accepted manuscript |
| Rights | The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in Dementia: The International Journal of Social Research and Practice by SAGE Publications Ltd, All rights reserved. © 2016 SAGE Publications Ltd. |
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