Effects of Dog-Assisted Therapy on Social Behaviors and Emotional Expressions: A Single-Case Experimental Design in 3 People With Dementia.

This study examined the effects of dog-assisted therapy (DAT) on social behaviors, emotional manifestations, and experience during the activity of 3 people with dementia residing in a specialized dementia unit. The study used an A-B-A-B withdrawal single-case experimental design with two 5-session phases, baseline and DAT, replicating the same activities in each phase. The sessions were recorded and 2 independent coders quantified the frequency of social behaviors along with an assessment of the emotional manifestations and experience during the activity. Comparing with baseline sessions, DAT sessions showed an increase in prosocial behaviors (leans, looks, and verbalizations) and a significant impact on emotional manifestations with heightened pleasure. Dog-assisted therapy sessions also led to a better experience, with higher participation, pleasure, and relationship with others, together with lower rejection and displeasure than in the baseline sessions. Dog-assisted therapy seems to be a nonpharmacological therapy with potential to improve quality of life of people with dementia through promoting social behaviors and positive emotional manifestations.

A pilot study on the impact of a pottery workshop on the well-being of people with dementia.

OBJECTIVE: This study seeks to assess the impact of a pottery workshop as a creative arts programme and discover the extent to which people with dementia taking part in an artistic and creative activity engage with it, experience a feeling of well-being, and improve their mood state. In addition, the study will seek to answer the question of whether taking part in a programme of creative activities improves the self-esteem of people with dementia. METHOD: The research used an uncontrolled, repeated measures design. Thirty users of the National Reference Centre for Alzheimer's and Dementia care in Salamanca (Spain) in a moderate to advanced stage of dementia (Global Deterioration Scale 4, 5, or 6) were divided into five intervention groups that received ten 45-minute sessions in which they were helped by facilitators to make different ceramic pieces. The participants were assessed before and after the intervention with a self-esteem scale, and they rated their mood before and after the sessions on a graphic scale. During the art sessions, two observers recorded the presence of multiple indicators of well-being. RESULTS: The intervention was found to have a significant impact on mood and self-esteem that was independent of the participants' Global Deterioration Scale. Regarding the tool used to observe well-being, the participants scored highly in the domains of sustained attention, pleasure, self-esteem, and normalcy, with low scores in negative affect and sadness. CONCLUSIONS: Pottery may be a highly suitable activity for people with dementia, as they may enjoy both the activity and the creative process, with it triggering a positive mood during the sessions, providing psychological well-being and reinforcing their self-esteem.

Contributions of an artistic educational program for older people with early dementia: an exploratory qualitative study.

OBJECTIVE: To describe a contemporary artistic educational program based on photographic cyanotype techniques and to present the results of the program carried out with older people with early dementia. We determined whether these people could participate in the program, their viewpoint about it, and what this program could contribute to their experience. METHOD: Twenty-one people diagnosed with mild or moderate dementia participated in a series of artistic education workshops. While conducting the workshops, participant observation was carried out, and the participants' engagement was assessed. Upon completing the series, five focus groups were held with the participants with dementia, and another focus group with their professional caretakers. RESULTS: We observed the participants' high level of commitment to the activity and their interest in learning new things. We also observed the participants' satisfaction during the creative process and with their results. The artistic activities not only reinforced the feelings of capacity of the participants with early dementia but also transmitted a positive image of them. CONCLUSIONS: Dementia was not an obstacle to participation in the program, which was an opportunity for creativity, learning, enjoyment, and communication for people with dementia. In the authors' opinion, facilitating access to art and artistic education to people with early dementia can contribute to enforcing their rights and to improving the care system.