Using Spaced Retrieval as an Intervention During Speech-Language Therapy

Abstract

Spaced Retrieval (SR) is a technique during which retrieval of information is practiced at increasingly longer intervals of time. The focus of this study was to determine whether SR could be an effective intervention during speech-language therapy. Participants incIuded two clients with a diagnosis of cerebral vascular accident and seven clients with dementia. During therapy sessions SR was used as a memory intervention for three learning tasks; learning a therapist's name, learning one piece of information which was important to the individual client, and learning a compensatory technique. Spaced retrieval enabled clients to learn and use information in a functional manner which facilitated achievement of the speech-language therapy goals. [Article copies available for a fee fmm f i e ffaworrh Docurnenl Delivery Service: 1-800-342-9678. E-mail address: getimfo@haworIh.com]Rehabilitation for speech-language pathologies is an increasingly important concern in long-term care, a setting in which speech therapy is Jennifer A. Brush is affiliated with the Menorah Park Center for the Aging, Beachwood, OH. Cameron J. Camp is affiliated with the Myers Research Institute of the Menorah Park Center for the Aging, Beachwood, OH. Center for the Aging, 27 I00 Cedar Road, Beachwood, OH 44 122.The authors wish to express their thanks to Patricia Stickler for her assistance in data collection, to Ruth Plautz (Director of Rehabilitation) for her support in all phases of the project, and to Dr. Julius Fishman (Director of Medicine) and Denise Trun (Director of Nursing) for their assistance in the selection of the participants. 52 CLINICAL GERONTOLOGISTrapidly expanding its presence. Speech therapy for older adults is covered by a variety of third-party payers, including Medicare, Medicaid, HMOs, PPOs, and growing numbers of older adults, both outpatients and longterm care residents, are being seen by speech-language pathologists through such programs.Many older adults encountered by speech-language pathologists have dementia as a primary or secondary presenting condition. It has been estimated that the majority of persons in long-term care have dementia, with some estimates reaching 60%-80% of residents. Dementia is often accompanied by language disturbances such as aphasia and anomia, in addition to neurological dysfunctions such as agnosia, apraxia, and problems with executive functioning. However, a distinctive feature of all

Impairment‐ and activity/participation‐directed interventions in progressive language impairment: Clinical and theoretical issues

“…Errorless learning (discouraging the participant from guessing and thus making errors) is another factor thought to play a role in the success of spaced retrieval training in dementia of the Alzheimer type and vascular dementia (Brush & Camp, 1998), and in relearning of forgotten associations in dementia of the Alzheimer type (Clare, Wilson, Breen, & Hodges, 1999;Wilson, Baddeley, Evans, & Shiel, 1994). Frattali (2004) and Snowden and Neary (2002) deliberately utilised errorless learning in their intervention design.…”

Using spaced retrieval and Montessori‐based activities in improving eating ability for residents with dementia

“…Once self-feeding is impaired, the of patients with dementia is a major concern of health professionals, but only a few published training programs for nurses and nursing assistants focusing on feeding institutionalized residents with dementia exist (Roberts and Durnbaugh, 2002;Chang and Lin, 2005). Moreover, the myth that patients with dementia cannot learn limits the training of patients with dementia to deal with their eating problems (Brush and Camp, 1998a).…”

“…Several studies have reported the efficacy of SR in improving eating difficulties among patients with dementia (Camp and Stevens, 1996;Brush and Camp, 1998a;Brush and Camp, 1998b). However, the few studies about SR as a treatment for eating difficulty of patients with dementia were all limited in that they did not use an adequate sample size, had no control group, no assessor blinding, no statistical comparison between pre-and post intervention, no standardized protocol, and/or no objective outcome measure to reflect improvement in eating difficulty, such as self-eating ability and nutritional status (Camp and Stevens, 1996;Brush and Camp, 1998a;Brush and Camp, 1998b;Bourgeois et al, 2003;Hopper et al, 2005).…”

When “long-term memory” no longer means “forever”: Analysis of accelerated long-term forgetting in a patient with temporal lobe epilepsy

“…Repeated recall at expanding delays, a method referred to as spaced retrieval, has proven successful with dementia patients, amnesics and normal healthy participants (e.g. Landauer & Bjork, 1978;Brush & Camp, 1998;Cull, Shaugnessy & Zechmesiter, 1996). However, it should be noted that spaced retrieval procedures typically include re-presentation after retrieval failure, to maintain performance at ceiling.…”