Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, cilt.29, sa.3, ss.52-59, 2023 (SCI-Expanded)
Background/Aim • Cognitive, psychological, and behavioral problems that occur in individuals with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) cause impairments in the daily living functions of patients and affect their quality of life adversely. Non-pharmacological treatments are becoming more and more prominent due to the lack of side effects and the effective results from various studies. This study aims to examine the effectiveness of holistic therapy (reminiscence, music, and reality orientation therapy) on depression levels, quality of life, and cognitive status in individuals with AD. Methods • Ten people with AD were included in the holistic therapy program for six weeks and ten were included in the control group. All individuals took the mini-mental state examination (MMSE), geriatric depression scale short form (GDS-SF), Nottingham health profile (NHP), and World Health Organization quality of life instrument, elderly module, Turkish version (WHOQOL-OLD) before and after the therapy. Results • The initial and final assessment results were compared in the therapy group; there was a significant increase in the MMSE scores and a significant decrease in the GDS-SF scores (P <.05). According to the NHP and WHOQOL-OLD scales, there was a significant increase in the quality of life of the patients in the therapy group (P <.05). Conclusion • In this study, a significant improvement was observed in the therapy group in the following aspects: cognition, depression level, and quality of life–especially in sleep, social isolation, emotional reaction, energy, autonomy, intimacy, fear of death, and emotional ability areas. Therefore, non-pharmacological treatment, such as holistic therapy, can be used together with pharmacological treatment in people with AD.