Efficacy of Group Reminiscence Therapy for Elderly Dementia Patients Residing at Home: A Preliminary Report

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to conduct group reminiscence therapy by using cooking activities among elderly dementia patients and to assess its efficacy. We conducted reminiscence therapy for 11 patients in a total of 9 sessions, once a week, 60 minutes each. Evaluations were performed on three occasions: one week before the start of the intervention and one week and four weeks after completion of the intervention. No particular adverse events were noted during the conduct of the study. There were significant improvements in the patients' scores for cognitive function and in their behavior, and the improvement in cognitive function continued until four weeks after the intervention. Based on these results, it will be necessary to verify the efficacy by means of a randomized controlled study in a larger number of patients.