ABSTRACT

Objective : The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a multimodal intervention program organized with purposeful activities, including physical activity, cognitive activity, social interaction, play, and craft making on the cognitive function and depression of older adults with early dementia. Methods : This study was executed using a single group pretest-posttest design. The participants joined eight weekly sessions of group intervention, and every session took 90 min to complete. A Mini-Mental State Examination-Dementia Screening (MMSE-DS) and the Korean Version of the Short form Geriatric Depression Scale (SGDS-K) were used to evaluate the cognitive function and depression of the participants. Results : After a multimodal intervention, the participants showed a significant increase in their average score of cognitive function, and a significant decrease in their average score of depression. The six participants with a suspicious depression were shown to be within the normal range after intervention. Conclusion : Multimodal intervention has the effect of delaying the progress of cognitive impairment and decreasing the depression level of older adults with early dementia. Further research is recommended to prove the results of this study more concretely. Research on the quality of intervention regarding therapists’ attitude or abilities in terms of the way they provide intervention for their clients is suggested