Interventions for Dementia Amber Heslop GRC MSW Program Data Abstract Dementia is a very prominent disease in the world that not much research has been conducted on. Many people do not know how to interact with people who have Dementia, or how to care for them. There has been some research regarding the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions versus pharmacological interventions and their effects on individuals with Dementia. The lifespan of a person once they are diagnosed is approximately 10 years, although it could be longer or shorter depending on the speed of the progression. A person with late stage dementia will generally become mute and bedbound. What is Dementia? Dementia is an age-related gradual progression of a person’s cognitive abilities and behavior. It will eventually debilitate all bodily functions of a person. There is no known cause or cure of the disease. Dementia affects more than 5 million Americans. Approximately 30-40% of American’s with Dementia reside in a Long Term Care Facility. Pharmacological Interventions Therapeutic Interventions •Life Journal •Early Life Activities •Music Therapy •Companionship •Cognitive Exercises Animal Assisted Therapy •Anti-Dementia’s (Namenda or Aricept) •Psychotropic's (anti-depressants and sedative-hypnotics) •Mixture of the above