Date Presented 04/05/19
This scoping review investigated how meditation-based interventions improve health and quality of life outcomes for adults with dementia. Improvements in quality of life, mental health, cognition, and functional abilities were found. Gaps in the literature highlight the need for rigorous research in this area. OTs can develop standardized protocol, educate caregivers on the importance of mindfulness-based interventions, and advocate for continued research.
Primary Author and Speaker: Lindsey Hoffman
Additional Authors and Speakers: Rebecca Hutt, Celine Tsui, Kim Zorokong
PURPOSE: Individuals living with dementia experience changes in memory, judgement, reasoning, language, learning capacity, and orientation, all of which can affect the individual’s ability to complete activities of daily living, communicate with others, and live independently. Dementia care has traditionally been addressed with medications, which are expensive and only cause minor clinical improvements in dementia symptoms. Therefore, greater efforts to develop affordable, evidence-based options for dementia care is necessary. Meditation may address the need for a non-pharmacological and cost-effective intervention for individuals with dementia. The purpose of this poster is to report findings of a scoping review in the area of meditation-based interventions for people with dementia and their implications for occupational therapy practice. Researchers sought to answer the question, “How do meditation-based interventions impact health and quality of life outcomes for adults with dementia?”
DESIGN: A scoping review was conducted using the methodology framework proposed by Arkansy and O’Malley (2005), which has been recommended for research in the field of occupational therapy (McKinstry, Brown, & Gustaffson, 2014).
METHOD: A literature search was conducted using the following electronic databases: PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, AJOT, Cochrane, and JumboSearch. Search terms included: meditation, mindfulness, mind-body, dementia, and Alzheimer’s. The initial database search resulted in 1,211 articles. After screening and excluding articles based on title and abstract, 50 full-text articles were reviewed. Of these 50 articles, 19 met inclusion criteria. All four authors performed data extraction and analysis of the 19 articles.
RESULTS: An analysis of 19 articles revealed four main outcomes of meditation-based interventions for people with dementia including improvements in quality of life, mental health, cognition, and functional abilities. The most strongly supported outcomes were improved cognition and quality of life. Gaps in the literature include a lack of rigorously designed studies, small sample sizes, and a lack of standardized intervention protocols for people with dementia.
CONCLUSION: The findings of this scoping review suggest that meditation improves both quality of life and cognition in adults with dementia (Churcher Clarke, 2017; Quintana-Hernandez, 2016). However, this is an emerging area of research and further research is warranted.
IMPACT STATEMENT: Given the results of this scoping review, meditation may be a viable occupational therapy intervention for clients with dementia. Occupational therapy practitioners can contribute to this field of research by implementing mindfulness into their interventions and collecting data on client outcomes.
References
Arksey, H., & O’Malley, L. (2005). Scoping studies: Towards a methodological framework. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 8, 19–32. doi:10.1080/1364557032000119616
Churcher Clarke, A., Chan, J.M.Y., Stott, J., Royan, L., & Spector, A. (2017). An adapted mindfulness intervention for people with dementia in care homes: Feasibility pilot study. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 32(12), E123-E131. doi: 10.1002/gps.4669
McKinstry, C., Brown, T., & Gustafsson, L. (2014). Scoping reviews in occupational therapy: The what, why, and how to. Australian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 61, 58–66. doi: 10.1111/1440-1630.12080
Quintana-Hernández, D. J., Miró-Barrachina, M. T., Ibáñez-Fernández, I. J., Pino, A. S., Quintana-Montesdeoca, M. P., Rodríguez-de Vera, B., Bravo-Caraduje, N. (2016). Mindfulness in the Maintenance of Cognitive Capacities in Alzheimer’s Disease: Randomized Clinical Trial. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease: JAD, 50(1), 217–232. doi: 10.3233/JAD-143009
