A randomized controlled trial of a group care program for community-dwelling elderly people with dementia

Aim: To examine the effectiveness of a group care program consisting of reminiscence and reality orientation care methods to prevent the decline of cognitive and daily activity function in community‐dwelling elderly persons with dementia in a randomized controlled trial with a 6‐month follow‐up period. Methods: Sixty community‐dwelling elderly persons with dementia were randomly assigned to either an intervention or a control group. The intervention group followed the group care program consisting of reminiscence and reality orientation care methods in addition to a routine day‐care service once a week for 10 consecutive weeks; the control group followed only a routine day‐care service in the same institution as the intervention group for the same study period. Results: On cognitive function, the intervention group exhibited a significant effect compared with the control group immediately after the intervention (P < 0.05), but no significant effect was observed after 6 months. On daily activity function, the intervention group exhibited significant effects compared with the control group in disorientation and withdrawal immediately after the intervention (P < 0.05) and after 6 months (P < 0.05). Conclusions: The group care program consisting of reminiscence and reality orientation care methods can be effective for the improvement of cognitive function in the short‐term and on the improvement of disorientation and withdrawal in the long‐term. It is suggested, however, that sustained intervention may be necessary to maintain the effect over time.