| Summary: | 碩士 === 長庚大學 === 職能治療學系 === 101 === The prevalence of dementia is increased in Taiwan these years due to rising life expectancy and increasing rate of population aging. More than 80% of dementia patients live in the community. It is urgent to develop feasible strategies and services to reduce the burden of caregivers and enhance physical and mental health of the patient beyond medication. The effect of occupation-based therapy on activities of daily living and social function in people with dementia and their caregivers were investigated. The study used a randomized pretest and posttest control group design. Participants qualified by inclusion criteria were randomly assigned to the experimental group (OT group) or the control group. The intervention lasted ten weeks.
Twenty three participants in the experimental group (6 males, 17 females, mean age = 79.22 years) and nineteen participants in the control group (9 males, 10 female, mean age = 81.58 years) completed the entire intervention. No significant difference was found between the demographic data of these two groups except the duration of received day-care services. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to assess the effectiveness of the occupation-based therapy. The experimental group showed significantly higher score in Disability Assessment for Dementia (DAD) than the control group (p<.001). In the Quality of life in Alzheimer's disease (QOL-AD), average rating from the patient of the experimental group was higher than that of the control group after intervention, but was not significant (p = .09); average rating from the caregiver of the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group (p = .03). In the Chinese version of the Zarit Burden Interview (CZBI), the experimental group showed significantly lower score than the control group (p = .03). In the Assessment of Communication and Interaction Skills (ACIS), the score of the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group (p <.01).
The results suggest that the occupation-based therapy could improve daily function and quality of live (based on caregiver’s perspective) of dementia patients. Caregiver burden was reduced, and social interaction and communication skills were enhanced comparing with the control group.
This study provides an occupation-based therapy which could likely improve activities of daily living, social function, and quality of life in people with dementia in day-care centers. In addition, caregiver burden could also be reduced. Hopefully, this study could provide better understanding of the role of caregivers in day-care center, and assist therapists to manage activities matching patient’s need. Occupational therapists could improve physical and mental health of dementia patients by their professional knowledge and develop better strategies for community care.
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