PROPOSAL DEMENTIA

Proposal Dementia

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION3

Purpose of Study4

Research Question4

Hypothesis4

Dependent and Independent variables4

Rationale of the Study5

METHODOLOGY6

Data Collection6

Research Design7

Sample Size7

Ethical Concerns7

Limitations8

LITERATURE REVIEW9

Theoretical Framework9

Dementia9

Behavioral Problems11

Treatment Methods12

Art Therapy (AT)12

Dance Movement Therapy/Dance Therapy (DMT)13

Music as a Therapy (MT)14

Intervention Strategies14

Sundowning and Dementia15

Causes of Sundowning17

Treatment17

Considerations18

INTRODUCTION

Dementia can be defined as a clinical syndrome characterised by deterioration in cognitive functions. One component of caring for an individual with dementia includes stimulating abilities, thereby improving the quality of life and decreasing problematic behaviours. Dementia is a progressive loss of cognitive function which can be due to a variety of physiological causes.

The two most common types of dementia are Ischemic Vascular Dementia (IVD) and Dementia of the Alzheimer's Type (DAT). IVD is a heterogeneous disorder, arising from different types of cerebral lesions in varying locations. The diagnostic criteria of IVD are the development of multiple cognitive deficits manifested by memory impairment, and aphasia (language disturbance), apraxia (impaired ability to carry out motor activities despite intact motor function), agnosia (failure to recognize or identify objects despite intact sensory function), and disturbance in executive functioning (i.e., planning, organizing, sequencing, abstracting). These cognitive deficits typically represent a significant decline from a previous level of functioning and cause significant impairment in social or professional ability (Folkman, 1980).

The primary cognitive and functional, diagnostic criteria for DAT are essentially the same as those of IVD except that the course of OAT may be characterized by a gradual onset. Although there may be some behavioural differences in the early stages of IVD and OAT, as the diseases progress, the neurological damage becomes so widespread that observable differences in the diseases are difficult to discern. In the long run, most degenerative conditions become neuron psychologically indistinguishable. Therefore, in the current study the general term "dementia" will use when referring to elders with cognitive impairments, most often OAT (Ferrell, 1995).

Purpose of Study

As people progress through dementia, they become more and more compromised in their ability to carry out basic and instrumental activities of daily living. As their abilities decrease, they become less able to process and interpret environmental stimuli (including screening out irrelevant and attending to salient stimuli) and formulate an action plan that leads to successful task completion. The purpose of the study is to evaluate and determine the effects of dementia on the patients who are more engaged in the recreational activities (Lopez, 2008). The study gauges and studies the effect or symptoms that dementia patients witness; it studies if they are prone to sundowning between early afternoon and late evening in the nursing homes.

Research Question

Do patients with dementia who are engaged in recreational activities, exhibit sundowning (wandering, agitation, and aggressive behavior) between early afternoon and late evening in nursing homes.

Hypothesis

Dementia patient engaged in recreational activities will exhibit less symptoms of sundowning;

(1) Will do less wandering,

(2) Be less agitated and

(3) Display less aggressive behavior.

Dependent and Independent variables

Independent Variable

An independent variable in a problem is a parameter that varies the problem without being influenced by other parameters of the problem. This usually corresponds to the parameters exogenous or ...