Prospects for psychotherapeutic correction of mild dementia in women with Alzheimer’s disease using art therapy

Roshchin Yury Valerievich, Levchenko Elena Vadimovna, Plotnikov Dmitry Vadimovich, Pokrovsky Mikhail Vladimirovich, Belskikh Irina Alekseevna, Zdanovich Anna Ilyinichna

Alzheimer’s disease is one of the reasons of dementia of elderly people. The main symptom of Alzheimer’s disease is the impairment of episodic memory. It is often accompanied by disorientation, higher cortical functions (such as aphasia, agnosia and apraxia), behavioural and affective disorders which inevitably lead to the loss of household independence. The purpose of this research is to prove that art-therapy can improve the emotional state and the quality of life of people with Alzheimer’s disease. Art-therapy leads to slowing of the progression of this disease. The representative sample of women with mild dementia were examined. Psychometric scales were used: Mental State Examination (MMSE), Clinical Global Impression (CGI-s) and QDRS. This medical supervision was conducted during nine months. The examination of cognitive functions was carried out for five times. The experimental group consisted of twenty- five patients. They received medication and art-therapy (group singing). The experiment showed that art-therapy combined with medication led to the slowing of the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. The authors of this research came to the conclusion that art-therapy has a positive influence on cognitive functions of sick people. Art-therapy stimulates neuroplacticity in the brain and increases a blood flow to the brain and reduce stress. These psychotherapeutic methods can be successfully used by psychiatrists in their practice. It will improve the effectiveness of the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.

Keywords:Alzheimer’s disease, psychotherapy, art-therapy, singing therapy.