Self-prevention and self-management of the behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia: A case study

Yohko Maki*

Behavioral And Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD) are common in individuals with dementia and are associated with poor Quality of Life (QOL) and increased care burden for family members. Managing BPSD, particularly violent behaviors, is essential to improve the QOL for persons with dementia and their families. A 10-week intervention was conducted to empower individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) or early dementia to manage their BPSD independently. Two men participated in the intervention with their wives; both were violent toward their wives. Questionnaire surveys were completed before and at the end of the intervention by the participants and their wives. Case 1 with MCI acknowledged his cognitive decline, expressed self-awareness regarding his violence, and elected to stop his violent behavior to live happier with his family members. Both he and his wife reported improved QOL, and his wife reported reduced violence and care burden. Case 2 with Alzheimer’s disease dementia was unmotivated to stop his violent behavior due to declined memory function and lacked awareness of his behavior. While he reported increased QOL throughout the intervention, his wife reported increased violence and care burdens. These findings suggest that when addressing BPSD in persons with dementia, recollection and self-awareness of behaviors is critical for encouraging the objective identification of violent behaviors and increasing motivation to modify behaviors. Therefore, in cases wherein individuals can reflect on their behaviors, encouraging self-management can be effective in preventing BPSD. However, when they are incapable of reflecting on their behaviors, other measures should be taken. In such cases, rather than management, encouragement and strengthening harmonious behaviors may be effective in improving their own and others’ QOL.

Keywords:

Published on: Sep 17, 2021 Pages: 11-19

Full Text PDF Full Text HTML DOI: 10.17352/aadc.000019
CrossMark Publons Harvard Library HOLLIS Search IT Semantic Scholar Get Citation Base Search Scilit OAI-PMH ResearchGate Academic Microsoft GrowKudos Universite de Paris UW Libraries SJSU King Library SJSU King Library NUS Library McGill DET KGL BIBLiOTEK JCU Discovery Universidad De Lima WorldCat VU on WorldCat