Browsing by Author "Aho, Petra"

Objectives. There are approximately 14,500 new cases of dementia-associated diseases each year in Finland. The most common cause of dementia is Alzheimer's disease (AD). There are many changes associated with AD that affect the person's ability to participate in interaction. Until now only very few Finnish studies have been conducted on assessing, treating and supporting language and interaction in dementia-associated diseases, and this type of treatment is not widely available in Finland. The purpose of this study is to introduce one indirect group speech therapy intervention aimed at the spouses of persons with AD, and to study its effectiveness in the interaction strategies they apply as well as their perceptions and satisfaction regarding interaction. The participants' experiences of the intervention and its usefulness are also examined. The study also touches the applicability of a recently translated method for assessing the interaction between persons with AD and their spouses. Method. Three couples participated in the study, all of whom had one partner diagnosed with AD. The studied intervention consisted of six group meetings aimed at the healthy spouses. Data was collected at three separate occasions using VNVIS-CG – a method based on analyzing video-recorded material – and a questionnaire. The participants also filled out a feedback form at the end of the intervention. Results and conclusions. The study found that the participants adopted and implemented some of the strategies that were addressed during the intervention. The changes observed in the behavior of the participants were individual. However, the intervention seems to even out the differences in the number of strategies used by the participants. All of the participants found the intervention useful, and felt that it had affected their behavior, but only one of the participants reported greater satisfaction with the couple's interaction after the intervention. The participants' perceptions of interaction varied greatly, so conclusions about possible changes in these perceptions cannot be made. Further research on the matter, with a larger group of participants and a comparison group, is definitely needed. In the future, the methods used to evaluate effectiveness, as well as the content and the execution of the intervention, should also be modified as needed.