News

Self-Management Skills Help Patients Of Dementia

By R. Siva Kumar | Update Date: Jan 22, 2016 01:20 PM EST

Group sessions can enable "self-management" in the early stages of dementia, even as they stoke "discussion, problem-solving, socialization and goal setting", according to scienceworldreport.

The study was published in the journal International Psychogeriatrics.

"Developing dementia can be a scary and isolating experience. We developed a group program to help people with dementia manage their condition and find ways of dealing with the changes in their lifestyle. We found early evidence that empowering people to manage their own symptoms and bringing them together helped them feel more confident about managing everyday life with dementia," said lead researcher Dr Catherine Quinn, Senior Research Fellow in The Centre for Research in Ageing and Cognitive Health (REACH), in a news release.

"All this has helped to enhance their quality of life. The group members became friends and supported each other, and we found that they benefited from being able to learn from each other."

In a pilot, randomized controlled study, patients with early stage dementia participating in 90-minute sessions in two months were compared with others who got no help. Researchers interviewed patients as well as their caregivers after three months and then again at six months.

The facilitators, help and information benefitted the participants, along with giving them a lot of help and support among other community members too.

Still, a lot more research is needed to finalise the results.

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