Frontotemporal dementia: program of psychological intervention in primary progressive afassia fluente

• Main Authors: Cristina Gómez García, Mª Cruz Pérez Lancho
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Asociación Nacional de Psicología Evolutiva y Educativa de la Infancia Adolescencia Mayores y Discapacidad 2019-07-01
• Series: INFAD
• Subjects: demencia frontotemporal; variantes lingüísticas; afasia progresiva primaria fluente; demencia semántica; programa de intervención cognitiva
• Online Access: http://www.infad.eu/RevistaINFAD/OJS/index.php/IJODAEP/article/view/1426
• ISSN: 0214-9877; 2603-5987

Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) is a neurodegenerative disease that currently has no curative treatment. The prevalence of this syndrome is lower than other dementias such as Alzheimer’s disease, but it is the second cause of dementia in the non-elderly people. In the FTD, a frontal variant is distinguished whose symptoms are purely behavioral and three variants of Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) that are characterized by the presence of language difficulties at the beginning of the disease. The fluent or semantic variant of the PPA constitutes 20% of the cases of FTD, and the main symptoms presented by affected patients are related to the difficulty to access the meaning of the words, as well as to access the signifier of the same. This disease is described as a gradual decline of semantic memory, while other cognitive processes appear relatively conserved, at least in the early stages of the disease. This deterioration makes the daily life of the patient have great limitations that in turn compromise the daily life of their relatives and caregivers. With the aim of improving the quality of life of the people affected by PPA fluent or semantic variant, an intervention proposal consisting of 12 sessions of cognitive stimulation is presented. This proposal is aimed at stimulating language functions, without forgetting other cognitive domains related to pathology. Before and after the implementation of the program, an evaluation of the cognitive abilities of the person must be carried out in order to verify the evolution of the patient. Finally, some important recommendations for the advice and support of family members and caregivers are presented.