Collaborative memory intervention in dementia: Caregiver participation matters

Abstract

The aim of the study was to examine the effectiveness of a collaborative memory intervention for persons with dementia and their spousal caregivers, where the couple acquired and practised memory supportive strategies (spaced-retrieval and hierarchical cuing) to learn a face-name association and to set a table for coffee/tea. The collaborative intervention was compared to an individual intervention where the person with dementia received the same training but without the participating caregiver and to a control group of couples receiving no training. The results showed that following collaborative intervention recall performance in two collaborative tasks became more equally shared between the spouses, reflected in a decrease in recall for the caregiver and in an increase in recall for the spouse with dementia between pre- and post-test; whereas for the other two groups the caregivers dominated collaborative recall both at pre- and post-test. The results also showed that the persons with dementia in the collaborative group improved their individually assessed episodic memory performance as compared to the persons with dementia in the other two groups. Finally, training had no effects on episodic memory, perceived burden or depressive symptoms for the caregivers. These results suggest that the active participation of the caregiver matters in cognitive dementia rehabilitation.

Evaluation of depressive symptoms in older caregivers

“…Three texts (17.6%) did not mention any limit, but in results it was possible to see all caregivers were older adults 22,25,30 . In one case only caregivers between 64-69 years 26 were included, another case included only caregivers ≥ 70 years 19 and one publication was a case study and included only two participants (72 and 74 years old) 29 .…”

“…Considering 15 texts, most of them caregivers were female. The percentage varied from 50% 30 to 100%, and in this last there were only two participants, both female 29 . The mean percentage of female caregivers was 69.56%.…”

“…By analyzing the articles' results it was possible to see that 52.9% evaluated only familiar caregiver 17,[20][21][22]25,[29][30][31][32] and in 47.1% caregiver could be even familiar or not 18,19,23,24,[26][27][28]33 .…”

“…The majority of manuscripts included caregivers who care for someone with Alzheimer Disease (AD) or other type of dementia (35.3%) 18,22,25,29,30,32 . In 23.5% there were grouped caregivers of people with chronic conditions, limitations in Activities of Daily Living, disability, memory problems and physically frail 17,19,26,33 ; 11.7% included caregivers who reported to care for a spouse and/or parents in the past five years 20,21 ; 11.7% who care for someone with AD or physically disabled 24,28 ; two texts (11.7%) who reported became a caregiver recently (called recent caregiver) 23,27 ; and one who care for a biological grandchildren 31 .…”

Development of a cognitive training program for the elderly

“…It is also common to include activities of daily living. 21,22 The performance of activities can be completed individually or in groups, 23 or even with family members. 24 It differs from mental stimulation in that the participants are taught a number of strategies to optimize their mental functioning.…”