Can a Home-visit Occupational Therapy Program Improve Dementia Symptoms and Caregiver Burden?

What is it about?

Japan’s population is getting older, which means that the number of people with dementia is also growing. We designed a home-visit occupational therapy program, consisting of 8 hour-long sessions, that had two aims: to improve patients’ behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia by having them regularly engage in activities that they find meaningful, and to reduce the burden and satisfy the needs of the caregivers of these patients. The program successfully helped with patients’ symptoms and satisfied the needs of their primary caregivers. Unfortunately, it seemed less effective in alleviating caregiver burden.

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Why is it important?

This study is an initial example of the benefits of home-visit occupational care, which is becoming increasingly widespread in Japan as the government moves to raise the quality of home dementia care. The program is perhaps useful for general practice because it takes little time out of participants’ daily lives while still providing obvious benefits. It is also client-centered, which means that clients and caregivers might be motivated to continue with it as well as derive enjoyment and self-confidence from participation. Overall, the program might help patients with dementia remain in their homes for as long as possible.