Psychosocial interventions for people with dementia: a synthesis of systematic reviews

Objectives: Over the last 10 years there has been a multitude of studies of psychosocial interventions for people with dementia. However, clinical services face a dilemma about which intervention should be introduced into clinical practice because of the inconsistency in some of the findings between...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: McDermott, Orii, Charlesworth, Georgina, Hogervorst, Eef, Stoner, Charlotte, Moniz-Cook, Esme, Spector, Aimee, Csipke, Emese, Orrell, Martin
Format: Article
Published: Taylor & Francis 2018
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48930/
_version_ 1848797881776996352
author McDermott, Orii
Charlesworth, Georgina
Hogervorst, Eef
Stoner, Charlotte
Moniz-Cook, Esme
Spector, Aimee
Csipke, Emese
Orrell, Martin
author_facet McDermott, Orii
Charlesworth, Georgina
Hogervorst, Eef
Stoner, Charlotte
Moniz-Cook, Esme
Spector, Aimee
Csipke, Emese
Orrell, Martin
author_sort McDermott, Orii
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Objectives: Over the last 10 years there has been a multitude of studies of psychosocial interventions for people with dementia. However, clinical services face a dilemma about which intervention should be introduced into clinical practice because of the inconsistency in some of the findings between different studies and the differences in the study qualities and trustworthiness of evidence. There was a need to provide a comprehensive summary of the best evidence to illustrate what works. Methods: A review of the systematic reviews of psychosocial interventions in dementia published between January 2010 and February 2016 was conducted. Results: Twenty-two reviews (8 physical, 7 cognitive, 1 physical/cognitive and 6 other psychosocial interventions) with a total of 197 unique studies met the inclusion criteria. Both medium to longer-term multi-component exercise of moderate to high intensity, and, group cognitive stimulation consistently show benefits. There is not sufficient evidence to determine whether psychological or social interventions might improve either mood or behaviour due to the heterogeneity of the studies and interventions included in the reviews. Conclusion: There is good evidence that multi-component exercise with sufficient intensity improves global physical and cognitive functions and activities of daily living skills. There is also good evidence that group based cognitive stimulation improves cognitive functions, social interaction and quality of life. This synthesis also highlights the potential importance of group activities to improve social integration for people with dementia. Future research should investigate longer-term specific outcomes, consider the severity and types of dementia, and investigate mechanisms of change.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T20:10:56Z
format Article
id nottingham-48930
institution University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T20:10:56Z
publishDate 2018
publisher Taylor & Francis
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling nottingham-489302020-05-04T19:27:13Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48930/ Psychosocial interventions for people with dementia: a synthesis of systematic reviews McDermott, Orii Charlesworth, Georgina Hogervorst, Eef Stoner, Charlotte Moniz-Cook, Esme Spector, Aimee Csipke, Emese Orrell, Martin Objectives: Over the last 10 years there has been a multitude of studies of psychosocial interventions for people with dementia. However, clinical services face a dilemma about which intervention should be introduced into clinical practice because of the inconsistency in some of the findings between different studies and the differences in the study qualities and trustworthiness of evidence. There was a need to provide a comprehensive summary of the best evidence to illustrate what works. Methods: A review of the systematic reviews of psychosocial interventions in dementia published between January 2010 and February 2016 was conducted. Results: Twenty-two reviews (8 physical, 7 cognitive, 1 physical/cognitive and 6 other psychosocial interventions) with a total of 197 unique studies met the inclusion criteria. Both medium to longer-term multi-component exercise of moderate to high intensity, and, group cognitive stimulation consistently show benefits. There is not sufficient evidence to determine whether psychological or social interventions might improve either mood or behaviour due to the heterogeneity of the studies and interventions included in the reviews. Conclusion: There is good evidence that multi-component exercise with sufficient intensity improves global physical and cognitive functions and activities of daily living skills. There is also good evidence that group based cognitive stimulation improves cognitive functions, social interaction and quality of life. This synthesis also highlights the potential importance of group activities to improve social integration for people with dementia. Future research should investigate longer-term specific outcomes, consider the severity and types of dementia, and investigate mechanisms of change. Taylor & Francis 2018-01-17 Article PeerReviewed McDermott, Orii, Charlesworth, Georgina, Hogervorst, Eef, Stoner, Charlotte, Moniz-Cook, Esme, Spector, Aimee, Csipke, Emese and Orrell, Martin (2018) Psychosocial interventions for people with dementia: a synthesis of systematic reviews. Aging and Mental Health . ISSN 1364-6915 http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13607863.2017.1423031 doi:10.1080/13607863.2017.1423031 doi:10.1080/13607863.2017.1423031
spellingShingle McDermott, Orii
Charlesworth, Georgina
Hogervorst, Eef
Stoner, Charlotte
Moniz-Cook, Esme
Spector, Aimee
Csipke, Emese
Orrell, Martin
Psychosocial interventions for people with dementia: a synthesis of systematic reviews
title Psychosocial interventions for people with dementia: a synthesis of systematic reviews
title_full Psychosocial interventions for people with dementia: a synthesis of systematic reviews
title_fullStr Psychosocial interventions for people with dementia: a synthesis of systematic reviews
title_full_unstemmed Psychosocial interventions for people with dementia: a synthesis of systematic reviews
title_short Psychosocial interventions for people with dementia: a synthesis of systematic reviews
title_sort psychosocial interventions for people with dementia: a synthesis of systematic reviews
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48930/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48930/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48930/