Intensive rehabilitation for dementia in a Geriatric Health Services Facility (Roken):Effect of intervention with 5 principles of Brain-activating rehabilitation

Asako Sekine¹⁾, Anna Nagashio¹⁾, Kumiko Takahashi¹⁾, Makoto Kato¹⁾, Masamitsu Takatama¹⁾, Haruyasu Yamaguchi²⁾

¹⁾Youkouen Geriatric Health Services Facility, Geriatrics Research Institute
²⁾Gunma University Graduate School of Health Sciences

We have examined the effect of “Intensive rehabilitation for dementia” in a Geriatric Health Service Facility (Roken).
The subjects were 51 in-patients in the facility who met the inclusion criteria. Rehabilitation session was carried out individually, for 20 minutes, 3 times a week, for 3 months, with 5 principles of Brain-activation rehabilitation;pleasant atmosphere, communication, role-playing, praising, error-less support.
When outcome measures were compared between pre- and post-intervention, all of the measures of cognitive function (HDS-R and MMSE), vitality (Vitality index), depression (GDS5), and behavioral and psychological symptoms (DBD) were significantly improved (Wilcoxon signed-rank test). This result was duplicated in both groups, when subjects were divided into 2 groups according to the HDS-R score.
Intensive rehabilitation for dementia for 3 months, which was associated with 5 principles of Brain-activating rehabilitation, was highly effective. We hope the rehabilitation spread throughout Japanese Geriatric Health Service Facilities (Roken).
Key Words:Geriatric health services facility (Roken), dementia, rehabilitation, behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD)

Address correspondence to Dr. Haruyasu Yamaguchi, Gunma University Graduate School of Health Sciences (3-39-22 Showa, Maebashi 371-8514, Japan)