New therapy is found for dementia patients

Activities directors, other healthcare professinals and caregivers, here is an article which showed what we have already seen to be true
Irish Times
LORNA SIGGINS, Western Correspondent
REMINISCENCE THERAPY can have a significant effect on patients suffering from dementia, according to research due to be presented at an international nursing conference in Galway next week.


Patients engaged in the therapy tend to be far less agitated, and the focus on psycho-social needs benefits both patients and staff, the research at National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) School of Nursing and Midwifery has found.

Reminiscence therapy involves discussing past activities, events and experiences in an individual or group setting, often using aids such as videos, pictures, books and archival material.

NUIG is currently running a project funded by the Health Research Board known as DARES (Dementia Education Programme incorporating Reminiscence Therapy for Staff), which involves training staff to use the approach.

Prof Kathy Murphy, head of NUIG’s School of Nursing and Midwifery, said the incidence of dementia in long-stay care was estimated at 20-30 per cent.

“However, in some instances, it can be up to 50 per cent in residential care, and staff tend to be general nurses who feel that the dementia condition would be more appropriately treated by psychiatric nurses.

“This programme meets the staff needs, and the needs of patients, by helping them to understand dementia better,” she explained.

“There is much more focus now on the psycho-social needs in residential care, and this therapy helps people with this condition to know their history and their past.”

NUIG’s second International Nursing and Midwifery conference will also hear about separate research done at the college on managing chronic illness in a primary care setting.

About 3 per cent of the population suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and pulmonary rehabilitation can alleviate the condition.

NUIG is currently training nurses to....read the whole article

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