Home-Visiting Cognitive Intervention for the Community-Dwelling Elderly Living Alone
10.12779/dnd.2020.19.2.65
- Author:
Juyoun LEE
1
;
Ae Young LEE
;
Author Information
1. Department of Neurology, Chungnam National University Hospital, Daejeon, Korea
- Publication Type:Original Article
- From:Dementia and Neurocognitive Disorders
2020;19(2):65-73
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:0
-
Abstract:
Methods:HCI was conducted from April 2016 to November 2019. Every elder who lived alone and 2 matched partners met for 8 weeks once a week. The partners visited participants' home and did the HCI which composed of cognitive training and cognitive stimulation activities. The Mini-Mental State Examination-dementia screening (MMSE), Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), the Korean version of instrumental activities of daily living (K-IADL), and the Social Support Scale (SSS) were evaluated before and after HCI to compare the effect of HCI.
Results:A total of 258 participants showed significant improvements in MMSE, GDS, K-IADL, and SSS. The MMSE and GDS scores were significantly improved after HCI in both the normal cognition (NC, n=210) and cognitive impairment (CI, n=48) groups. The cognitive effect of HCI for CI was higher than for NC. Among the NC, the magnitude of cognitive improvement was greater in the higher educated group (above 7 years) than in the other groups.
Conclusions:Active cognitive interventions could provide possible benefits to improve cognition, emotion, and functional abilities. Regular cognitive-care services like HCI are necessary to reduce dementia risk for the elderly who live alone in the community.
