Helping persons with mild or moderate Alzheimer's disease recapture basic daily activities through the use of an instruction strategy.

PURPOSE: The present three pilot studies assessed the effectiveness of verbal instructions, presented automatically through simple technology, in helping persons with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease recapture basic daily activities. The activities were morning bathroom routine, dressing, and table-setting. METHOD: The studies that focused on morning bathroom routine and on table-setting included three participants each, while the study that focused on dressing involved four participants. A non-concurrent multiple baseline design across participants was used for each study. The instructions and technology were available only during the intervention phases. RESULTS: Data showed that the intervention strategy involving verbal instructions for the single activity steps presented automatically through technology was effective in helping all participants on each of the activities. The participants' mean percentages of correct steps across activities raised from 13 - 54 during the baseline periods to above 80 or 90 during the intervention periods. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the intervention strategy reported may represent a suitable approach for helping persons with mild or moderate Alzheimer's disease to recapture basic daily activities. New research should target other activities and check maintenance and generalization issues.

Technology-aided verbal instructions to help persons with mild or moderate Alzheimer's disease perform daily activities.

These two studies extended previous research on the use of verbal instructions and support technology for helping persons with mild or moderate Alzheimer's disease perform daily activities. Study I included seven participants who were to carry out one of two previously targeted activities (i.e., either coffee preparation or table setting). Study II included four participants who were to carry out two new activities (i.e., preparation of a fruit salad and of a vegetable salad). The effects of activity engagement on mood (i.e., indices of happiness) were assessed by recording the participants' behavior during the activity trials and parallel non-activity periods. The participants of Study I reached percentages of correct activity performance, which normally exceeded 85. Five of them also showed higher indices of happiness during the activity trials as opposed to the non-activity periods. Three of the participants of Study II reached high percentages of correct performance on both activities available. One of these participants also showed higher indices of happiness during the activity trials. The findings were discussed in relation to previous research outcomes and in terms of their practical implications for intervention programs.