Cognitive Stimulation for Portuguese Older Adults With Cognitive Impairment

There has to be something useful in here for your doctor to give you if you are cognitively impaired post-stroke.
http://aja.sagepub.com/content/29/6/503?etoc

A Randomized Controlled Trial of Efficacy, Comparative Duration, Feasibility, and Experiential Relevance

1. Jorge Alves, MSc1⇑
2. Filipa Alves-Costa, MSc2
3. Rosana Magalhães, MSc1
4. Óscar F. Gonçalves, PhD1,3
5. Adriana Sampaio, PhD1

1. ¹Neuropsychophysiology Lab, CIPsi, School of Psychology, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal
2. ²Justice and Violence Applied Research Unit, CIPsi, School of Psychology, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal
3. ³Department of Counseling and Applied Educational Psychology, Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA

1. Jorge Alves, MSc, Laboratório de Neuropsicofisiologia, Escola de Psicologia, Universidade do Minho, Campus de Gualtar 4710-057, Braga, Portugal. Email: jorge.alves@psi.uminho.pt

Abstract

Although some studies point to cognitive stimulation as a beneficial therapy for older adults with cognitive impairments, this area of research and practice is still lacking dissemination and is underrepresented in many countries. Moreover, the comparative effects of different intervention durations remain to be established and, besides cognitive effects, pragmatic parameters, such as cost-effectiveness and experiential relevance to participants, are seldom explored. In this work, we present a randomized controlled wait-list trial evaluating 2 different intervention durations (standard = 17 vs brief = 11 sessions) of a cognitive stimulation program developed for older adults with cognitive impairments with or without dementia. 20 participants were randomly assigned to the standard duration intervention program (17 sessions, 1.5 months) or to a wait-list group. At postintervention of the standard intervention group, the wait-list group crossed over to receive the brief intervention program (11 sessions, 1 month). Changes in neuropsychological, functionality, quality of life, and caregiver outcomes were evaluated. Experience during intervention and costs and feasibility were also evaluated. The current cognitive stimulation programs (ie, standard and brief) showed high values of experiential relevance for both intervention durations. High adherence, completion rates, and reasonable costs were found for both formats. Further studies are needed to definitively establish the potential efficacy, optimal duration, cost-effectiveness, and experiential relevance for participants of cognitive intervention approaches.