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Engaging Wisdom: A Comparison Of Cognitive And Interpersonal Interventions On Elderly Mental Health, Kade Downs Dec 2014

Engaging Wisdom: A Comparison Of Cognitive And Interpersonal Interventions On Elderly Mental Health, Kade Downs

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

In the United States the population of individuals over the age of 60 is large and expected to increase (Administration on Aging, 2009). Mental disorders (e.g., dementia) are especially prevalent in elderly populations (WHO, 2012). Considering the relatively small amount of research examining elderly populations in the United States, this prevalence highlights the potential and necessity for intervention research specifically designed for elderly individuals. This study examines the effectiveness of a cognitive as well as an interpersonal intervention on the mental health of a sample of individuals over the age of 60 at residential eldercare facilities. Results showed no significant …


Visuomotor Adaptation In Older Adults With And Without Cognitive Impairment, Jeffrey Schaffert Jun 2014

Visuomotor Adaptation In Older Adults With And Without Cognitive Impairment, Jeffrey Schaffert

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Even in early stages, dementia can cause motor declines, hindering the ability to carry out tasks encountered in daily living. Error-driven learning processes are believed to be central to visuomotor adaptation. Research has shown that increasing error feedback may enhance adaptation in neurologically damaged participants. Some literature on dementia and motor learning has indicated that demented patients have a tendency to rely more on sensory feedback for movement control. This study examined augmentation of error feedback in elderly controls and cognitively impaired individuals. A center-out visuomotor adaptation task assessed motor learning in two experimental conditions: normal and enlarged error feedback. …


Ambiguous Loss For Caregivers Of Family Members With Dementia, Ashleigh Vella Apr 2014

Ambiguous Loss For Caregivers Of Family Members With Dementia, Ashleigh Vella

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study examined the grief of spousal caregivers, specifically pertaining to how grief reactions and losses shift over the progression of the Alzheimer disease and related dementias, and how caregivers experience ambiguous loss. Five caregivers of spouses with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias participated in this study, recruited from the Alzheimer’s Society of London and Middlesex and the Alzheimer Outreach Services of McCormick Home. This was a descriptive field study using a qualitative approach to discover each participant’s experiences, which was complimented with two quantitative measures. The findings of this study were consistent with previous research regarding the changes in …


Relationships Between Tests Of Visual Memory In Patients With Mild Cognitive Impairment And Alzheimer’S Disease, Guy Bernard Debros Jan 2014

Relationships Between Tests Of Visual Memory In Patients With Mild Cognitive Impairment And Alzheimer’S Disease, Guy Bernard Debros

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a degenerative neurological disorder characterized by cognitive and functional impairment (Budson & Solomon, 2011). Its prevalence is expected to rise in the upcoming decades as the world’s population ages (Alzheimer’s Association, 2014). Amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a clinical diagnostic entity that may represent very early AD (Morris et al., 2001). Both disorders involve significant impairment in episodic memory, necessitating reliable memory measures when making diagnoses. Although verbal memory is most often impaired in the earliest stages of disease (Budson & Price, 2005), visual memory is also predictor of AD (Kawas et al., 2003). Partly …


The Influence Of Dementia Caregiver Mental Health On Quality Of Care In Argentina, Alejandra Morlett Paredes Jan 2014

The Influence Of Dementia Caregiver Mental Health On Quality Of Care In Argentina, Alejandra Morlett Paredes

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the connections between cognitive functioning in individuals with dementia and caregiver burden, burden and mental health, mental health and quality of care. One hundred two dementia caregivers from San Lucas, Argentina completed questionnaires assessing these constructs. Caregiver burden, depression, anxiety, and satisfaction with life explained 18.8% of the variance in quality of care – respect and 14.7% of the variance in quality of care – provide. An SEM with generally adequate fit indices uncovered that cognitive functioning in individuals with dementia was inversely associated with caregiver burden, caregiver burden was inversely associated with mental health, and mental …