Dementia
Conditions
Brief summary
The purpose of the proposed study is to better understand what benefits visual art has on reducing problematic symptoms in dementia patients, including those with Alzheimer's disease.
Detailed description
Participants: Participants will be residents, attendees and/or members of assisted living locations and/or dementia (or related) day programs. There will be two groups: an art training group and a waitlist control group. Data Analysis: 1. For primary measures, t-tests on pre-post difference scores comparing art training and waitlist groups. 2. For possible confounding effects, tests for confounds related to background factors (socioeconomic status, education level, gender, activity participation). Procedure: A randomized controlled trial design will be utilized to assess two groups of dementia patients: an art training experimental group and a structured usual-activity waitlist control group. The experimental group will participate in a visual art training program and the waitlist control group will participate in their usual structured group activities. The waitlist control group will receive the art training program once post-testing is complete. Before, during, and/or after the art programs and/or control activities, participants will be observed and complete assessments.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALVisual Arts Training
The art training program has been designed as a drawing program and focuses on basic visual art concepts (the elements \[e.g., colour and line\] and principles \[e.g., proportion and balance\] of design). Each week has a different activity and a different focus (one activity per week focusing on one element and principle of design). Each art training program will occur one hour per day, two days per week, for eight weeks. The art training program will take place at the participants' respective dementia care location in an area separate from waitlist control participants and uninvolved clients. All art programs are free for participants.
Sponsors
York University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE (Subject, Outcomes Assessor)
Masking description
Teacher
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Dementia
Exclusion criteria
* Inability to participate in the art training program due to physical or cognitive limitations
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change in cognition | baseline up to three weeks prior, and final assessment one to two weeks post-intervention | Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA; Nasreddine, 2005) |
| Change in visual working memory | baseline up to three weeks prior, and final assessment one to two weeks post-intervention | Body Part Pointing Test (Stopford et al., 2010) |
| Change in auditory working memory | baseline up to three weeks prior, and final assessment one to two weeks post-intervention | Digit Span (Weschler, 2008) |
Countries
Canada
Outcome results
None listed