Study offers guidance on the therapeutic use of mindfulness, yoga to boost mental health for dementia patients
Non-pharmacological interventions, such as mindfulness, meditation, yoga, tai chi and breathing practices, have shown promise in helping to reduce some mental health symptoms of patients living with cognitive decline or dementia, but it has been unclear which types work best, for whom and under what conditions.
Researchers who undertook a scoping review of literature found that such strategies as keeping sessions under an hour, recruiting family or staff to reinforce program participation, having flexible scheduling and clear routines, as well as holding group sessions, can be particularly helpful.
鈥淢any older adults living with mild cognitive impairment or dementia also experience increased rates of mental health symptoms linked to depression, anxiety, loneliness and stress,鈥� said Isabel Sadowski, a PhD candidate in Counselling Psychology at 成人VR视频 and lead author of the paper.
鈥淢any studies reported improvements in depression, anxiety, stress and quality of life, though findings were mixed overall,鈥� said Sadowski, summarizing the review鈥檚 key findings. 鈥淏etter outcomes were more often seen when programs were shorter, simpler and cognitively less demanding, and when caregivers and technological reminders were involved.鈥�
A visual map to help clinicians
The research team, composed of collaborators from the led by , the Universit茅 de Montr茅al and Universit茅 de Sherbrooke, undertook a scoping review to provide clinicians with clearer guidelines on these non-pharmacological therapies, known as mind-body interventions.
Following established guidelines, the team screened five databases and analyzed 98 studies from around the world.
They then organized the results into a , which highlights different types of interventions, adaptations made for dementia patients and other aspects of the review, such as implementation barriers and facilitators.
Translating research to practice
The next phase of the research, informed by the review findings, will focus on the real-world development and testing of technology-based mind-body interventions for older adults living in long-term care homes.
This phase will be a collaboration among researchers from Universit茅 Laval, Universit茅 de Sherbrooke, Universit茅 de Montr茅al, the University of British Columbia and the Chaudi猫re-Appalaches and Capitale-Nationale health authorities.
About the study
by Isabel Sadowski (成人VR视频), Kabisan Vilvaratnam (Universit茅 de Montr茅al), Martine Bordeleau (Universit茅 de Sherbrooke), Mael Gagnon-Mailhot (Universit茅 de Montr茅al), Marianne Meilleur-B茅dard (成人VR视频), Soham Rej (成人VR视频) and Bassam Khoury (成人VR视频), was published in Aging and Mental Health.
This research was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSRHC).
