1Professor, Dept. Occupational Therapy, Jungwon University, 85 Munmu-ro Geosan-eup Geosan-gun Chungcheoungbuk-do, Korea
2Professor, Dept. Occupational Therapy, Hanseo University, 46 Hanseo1-ro Haemi-myun Seosan-shi Chungcheoungnam-do, Korea
3Professor, Dept. Occupational Therapy, Dong-nam Health University, 50 Cheoncheon-ro 74Gil Jangan-gu Suwon-shi Gyonggi-do, Korea
*Corresponding author: So-Yeon Park Professor, Dept. Occupational Therapy, Hanseo University, Korea, E-mail: soyon@hanseo.ac.kr
Online published on 21 September, 2018.
The purpose of this study is to develop an occupation-based activity program for the elderly who experience both sight loss and dementia (or mild cognitive impairment) and investigate possibility of this program.
An occupation-based activity program was applied twice over a five-month period between September 1 and January 30, 2017. Non-drug treatment activities with the evidence of therapeutic effectiveness were selected through a literature review on treatment activities for the elderly with sight loss and cognitive impairments. The program consisted of activities for which applicability and efficiency were fully reviewed. This program was improved by four experts in the relevant field.
The program consisted of three domains: educational, daily examination, and cognitive activities. The subjects stated after the program that they understood the importance of non-drug approaches as educational activities for preventing dementia and were motivated to carry out activities such as morning walks and playing instruments at clubs. Daily examination activities mean the activities of planning important daily tasks and examining whether or not they were performed. The subjects noted that they could learn how to record and examine their daily schedules for medication or hospital visits using the voice recording function of their mobile phones, and could use the method in daily life. Regarding the cognitive activities, cognitive stimulation activities using senses other than vision were performed in consideration of the subjects’ visual impairments. The subjects reported their strengthened sensory functions and improvements in concentration through proprioceptive activities (e.g. moving finger rings, finger exercises), tactile discrimination activities (e.g. finding and classifying fabrics with the same texture), and dual-task activities (e.g. handing over a ball to the next person).
This study suggested basic data for follow-up research by confirming positive responses and applicability regarding educational, daily examination, and cognitive activities for the elderly with sight loss and cognitive impairments.
Sight loss, mild cognitive impairments, dementia, occupation-based activity program, the elderly
