Objectives: To evaluate whether involvement in TimeSlips, a creative storytelling program, reduced mood and behavioral symptoms as well as psychotropic medication use in persons with dementia.
Methods: A cluster-randomized pilot study compared two discrete dementia care units in one nursing home. The control cohort (N = 10) received standard-of-care activity programming, and the intervention cohort (N = 10) received standard-of-care plus two one-hour TimeSlips sessions per week for six weeks. Data on mood and behavioral symptoms and psychotropic drug prescriptions were collected, and within-group and between-group comparisons were performed.
Results: Between-group comparisons did not reveal statistically significant differences in mood and behavioral symptoms. No differences in psychotropic drug prescriptions were found.
Conclusions: Larger trials of longer duration are needed to determine whether involvement in TimeSlips reduces mood and behavioral symptoms that compromise quality of life for persons with dementia.
Keywords: Dementia; TimeSlips; behavioral symptoms; creative expression programs; non-pharmacological.
Copyright © 2014 American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.