Effects of four years of exercise, language, and social interventions on Alzheimer discourse

Abstract

This article describes a comprehensive cognitive-linguistic intervention program for mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients that provided communication skills practice in the context of health-enhancing and esteem-building community-based activities: physical fitness training and supervised volunteer work. The interventions were administered by undergraduate students who completed academic work, received faculty supervision, and earned three credits for one semester of participation. Effects of the interventions on the discourse of four participants who completed all 4 years of the program are reported in detail. The maintained or improved performance on multiple discourse outcome measures provides powerful rationale for making such interventions more widely available and preliminary support for their effectiveness in preserving communicative function. An additional role for speech-language pathologists (SLPs)-as trainers and supervisors of non-professional rehab partners for persons with dementia-is proposed. Learning outcomes: From this article, participants will be able to (1) list specific language tasks that can be used to assess discourse in individuals with AD; (2) identify several cognitive-linguistic interventions appropriate for use with AD patients; and (3) understand how long-term cognitive-linguistic interventions may affect the language performance of individuals with AD. #

The Effects of a Multimodal Intervention on Outcomes of Persons With Early-Stage Dementia

“…32 Cognitive and emotional benefits of exercise for PWD have been well supported in other studies, including decreased depression and apathy in exercisers compared with nonexercisers. 5,[18][19][20]23,24 Findings from this pilot study are also consistent with the growing body of research describing the effects of CBT on cognitive and behavioral outcomes, including depression. 7,[36][37][38]40 Overall, results from this preliminary study are consistent with findings from previous studies, including the measures used to assess the effects of the multimodal intervention.…”

“…22 As persons in the early stages of dementia were the target population for the pilot study, appropriate behavioral outcomes included depression and self-esteem. Studies examining the effects of exercise in PWD showed improvements in depression [23][24][25] and lower rates of depression in exercisers compared with nonexercisers, although sample sizes have tended to be small, <30/group. 26 The type of tested exercise form varied, with home-based aerobic/ endurance activities, strength training, balance and flexibility training being most common.…”

Cognitive reserve and its implications for rehabilitation and Alzheimer’s disease

“…Quayhagen and Quayhagen (1989) reported the efficacy of a dyadic cognitive stimulation program, in which patient and caregiver were involved in communication and problem-solving exercises. Cognitive stimulation appeared to be beneficial in numerous studies (Arkin 1992;Quayhagen et al 1995;Arkin 1999;Arkin 2000;Quayhagen and Quayhagen 2001;Mahendra and Arkin 2003;Spector et al 2001;Arkin 2007), also showing that involving spousal caregivers in the cognitive stimulation program (Quayhagen and Quayhagen 1989) and utilizing games (Sobel 2001) lead to significant cognitive improvements.…”

Effects of multisensory stimulation on cognition, depression and anxiety levels of mildly-affected alzheimer's patients

“…Utilization of artistic activities to cope with the psychosocial symptoms encountered in Alzheimer's patients is gaining popularity [1,2]. Some research on Alzheimer's disease has illustrated that multiple therapeutic techniques including music, art, scents of essential oils, massage, touching, object presentation (naming an object displayed by the researcher), and exercise [3][4][5][6][7] can be employed for managing the symptoms.…”