- Doll therapy is catching on at nursing homes and other senior facilities across the country. It's used to help ease anxiety among residents with dementia, who can experience personality changes, agitation and aggression. But the therapy is controversial.
Supporters say the dolls can lessen distress, improve communication and reduce the need for psychotropic medication. Critics say the dolls are demeaning and infantilize seniors.
I've been seeing some headlines about the treatment of Alzheimer's. I'm hoping there's some kind of cure on the horizon. I just saw this at reddit. Alzheimer's disease breakthrough as new drug clears toxic proteins from brains of patients OftenBen, does this have any merit?
Hard to say how excited to be. Alzheimers and neuro-stuff in general isn't my specialty. You're better off asking mk or b_b about brain stuff. I do know that getting rid of beta amyloid protein is good for Alzheimers patients. I also know that there's no drug that's currently proven to do that on the market. If there were it would become a big freaking deal in a hurry.
I think that caring for infants and young children is deeply ingrained in the human psyche. I think it's one of the things that's preserved even as Alzheimer's strips away higher functioning, and maybe, as suggested in the article, it's a way to 'meet people where they're at.' It builds a bridge between the 'normal' cognitive functioning of the caregivers and the 'altered' mental state of the patients. That said, I'm still conflicted about if encouraging false realities as a form of therapy. You don't treat a schizophrenic by indulging their fantasies.
Hmm. I understand the sentiment, but I don't know if that's a fair comparison. The two diseases, their causes, and their effects are all probably very different.That said, I'm still conflicted about if encouraging false realities as a form of therapy. You don't treat a schizophrenic by indulging their fantasies.
It's not 1 to 1, but I think there's overlap. My grandfather has dementia, and until you get him into a thread of conversation he recognizes, he's not really able to participate. This problem is especially hard with geriatrics, because the endpoints that they are looking for are essentially 'how easy is this patient to manage, and how much medication do they require?' rather than anything like meaningful quality of life improvement. The question isn't 'Does doll therapy fix dementia?' it's 'Does doll therapy provide an alternative to heavy sedation and anti-psychotics.' And if that's the case, which it seems like it is in the article, and grandma gets to push around a stroller, rather than takes loads and loads of diazepam and sit around drooling, well then I say full steam ahead with the dolls.