Effects of dementia intervention programs on the elderly with dementia and professional caregivers

To verify the effects of dementia intervention programs on the elderly with dementia and professional caregivers, The subjects were the elderly with dementia who received eight sessions of dementia intervention programs in 11 facilities nationwide and their professional caregivers who had been working in the facilities for more than a month. The outcome variables in the elderly with dementia included cognitive functions (MMSE-KC), depression(SGDS_K), activities of daily living (Barthel Activity of Daily Living Index), and psycho-behavioral functions (NPI-K). The professional caregivers' outcome variables included self-efficacy (IGNSE) and care burden(S-ZBI). Results of the analysis reported that the dementia intervention programs significantly improved the dementia subjects' cognitive functions(t=-2.50 p=0.016), depression(t=4.00 p<0.001) and psycho-behavioral functions(t=3.09, p=0.003). The subjects' activities daily of living(t=-1.56 p=0.126) and professional caregivers' self-efficacy (t=-1.67, p=0.101) and care burden(t=0.53, p =0.598) improved marginally, showing no statistical significance. Importantly, professional caregivers' decreasing self-efficacy and increasing care burden should be noted in comparison to the functional improvement in the elderly with dementia.