Conducting an intervention program mediated by recreational activities and socialization in groups for clients with Alzheimer's disease

Our research group has demonstrated behavioral, cognitive, and functional gains in outpatients with Alzheimer's disease who participated in interventions mediated by recreational and occupational activities. Interventions with recreational activities (games and art therapies) are frequently offered to people with dementia in nursing homes or day-care -centers. Our group has demonstrated behavioral and, to a lesser extent, cognitive and functional gains in patients treated with recreational-occupational activities when compared to patients undergoing other kinds of cognitive treatment or to controls receiving only routine care. Patients recruited from the Alzheimer Assessment Unit of our center were divided into groups of four clients. The training involved fifteen 3-hour sessions. Treatment comprised an orientation task, recreational activities (conversation, music listening, party games, collage, and games with balls, clubs, cones, and hopping) and occupational activities of daily living (setting and clearing the table, preparing tea or coffee, washing hands and dishes). Caregivers received educational and psychological support. While our studies clearly have some limitations (above all the lack of randomization), we have found that the literature, coupled with our findings, supports the notion that a group activity program, based mainly on recreational and occupational activities, can achieve improvement in Alzheimer's disease patients, above all behaviorally.