The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society published an article about the effects of dance and movement therapy (DMT) on dementia patients. The DMT intervention on the dementia patients consisted of nine sessions that lasted for around 30-45 minutes each and a control group that spent the same amount of time in nursing home activities. At the end of the study the DMT intervention group had improved slightly while the control group did not. The DMT group greatly improved in the tasks of visuospatial ability and planning whereas the control group remained unchanged. There were significant changes in memory in either group, but the DMT intervention group also showed improvements in the areas of self-care and cognition.
This article stood out to me and kind of got me a little bit excited because I am a nursing major and dance minor at Berry College, but I have a concentration in geriatric care. Dementia and Alzheimers are two very life altering diseases which have no known cure so it is unbelievable to see that dance therapy has shown statistical improvments in the patient's lives! Although no measurable changes in memory occurred, self-care and planning tasks are still a huge step in the right direction for memory loss patients. I hope that I can find more information on improvements for the DMT intervention program and hopefully we will see more progress in geriatric care usually dance and movement therapy.
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