Key Areas
Nonpharmacological interventions
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Non-pharmacological therapies are taking their place in dementia care as demonstrably reducing problem behaviours and clearly contributing to quality of life. The increased use of non-pharmacologic therapies, treatment and approaches in dementia care over the last decade has raised important questions for caregivers and researchers. This area will highlight and study specific innovative approaches that include elements such as, the arts in dementia care and how cultural institutions can be incorporated into the lives of people with dementia in every community. This area will also highlight the underlying theories and models of therapeutic intervention in dementia care and explore the major outcomes achieved in terms of engagement, relationship and basic human rights—dignity, independence, participation, care and self-fulfilment.
Evaluation methodology
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Evaluating the effects and outcomes of nonpharmacological interventions requires methods and methodologies that reflect the dynamic nature of many of these therapies. Music and dance, computer programmes, museums visits, and the physical environment have all been shown to engage people with dementia and reduce symptoms, but more in depth research employing new research approaches is necessary to demonstrate conclusively their efficacy. This area will highlight successful research case studies with particular emphasis on the methods employed and the theoretical framework these methods reflect.
Technology
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Technologies in communication, assistive technologies, entertainment, robotics, personal safety, way finding, and memory enhancement are making major strides towards helping people with dementia maintain their independence, be safe and have a higher quality of life. This area will focus on giving evidence-based technological innovations their place in the domain of nonpharmacological approaches, while demonstrating their impact on behaviours and quality of life.
Environmental design
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The built environment has become established as one of the major nonpharmacological approaches to caring for people living with dementia. Architects, interior designers, landscape architects, environmental psychologists, and other social scientists have collaborated over the past two decades to plan and design physical environments particularly suited to and reflective of the needs of those living with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Through their developments we have learned that there are direct links between issues such as territoriality, privacy, personalization, environmental cues, and therapeutic gardens and reduced dementia symptoms. This area aims to foster greater integration of environmental design approaches specific to dementia care in the world of design, by showcasing the good that high quality design for dementia can achieve.
