The Role of the Occupational Therapist in the Management of Neuropsychiatric Symptoms of Dementia in Clinical Settings
Open accessAbstract
Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) of dementia include aggression, agitation, depression, anxiety, delusions, hallucinations, apathy, and disinhibition. NPS affect dementia patients nearly universally across dementia stages and etiologies. They are associated with poor patient and caregiver outcomes, including increased health care utilization, excess morbidity and mortality, and earlier nursing home placement, as well as caregiver stress, depression and reduced employment. There are no FDA-approved medications for NPS, but it is a common clinical practice to use psychotropic medications such as antipsychotics, to control symptoms; however, antipsychotics show only modest efficacy in improving NPS and have significant risks for patients, including side effects and mortality. Nonpharmacologic treatments are considered first-line by multiple medical bodies and expert consensus, as they show evidence for efficacy and have limited potential for adverse effects. Ideally, nonpharmacological management of NPS in clinical settings occurs in multidisciplinary teams, where occupational therapists play an important collaborative role in the care of the person with dementia. Our group has articulated an evidence-informed structured approach to the management of NPS that can be integrated into diverse practice settings and used by providers of various disciplines. The "DICE" (Describe, Investigate, Create, and Evaluate) approach is inherently patient- and caregiver-centered, as patient and caregiver concerns are integral to each step of the process. DICE offers a clinical reasoning approach through which providers can more efficiently and effectively choose optimal treatment plans. The purpose of this paper is to describe the role of the occupational therapy in using the DICE approach for NPS management.
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The use of activities as nonpharmacological intervention for people with dementia has shown potential benefits in quality of life and in reducing agitation and depression.
“The use of activities as nonpharmacological intervention for people with dementia has shown potential benefits in quality of life and in reducing agitation and depression [37–39].”
From Nonpharmacological Interventions to Reduce Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia: A Systematic Review (2015) · cites this paper as [39]
In Step 3 – CREATE (page not provided), the paper recommends meaningful activities as a potentially effective nonpharmacological strategy for neuropsychiatric symptoms. The Introduction says effective treatment may improve quality of life, but our copy does not specifically report that activity interventions improve quality of life or reduce both agitation and depression. (LLM, conf=0.82)
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- Authors
- Fraker, J., Kales, H. C., Blazek, M., Kavanagh, J., & Gitlin, L. N.
- Affiliations
- VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System (US)
- University of Michigan (US)
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kales, Helen C.
- Venue
- Occupational Therapy In Health Care
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2013-12-19
- Volume
- 28
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 4-20
- ISSN
- 0738-0577 (ISSN-L)
- 1541-3098
- PMC
- PMC4209177
- OpenAlex
- W2157709203
- Cited by
- 33
- References
- 36
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 4
- FWCI
- 2.36
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Occupational Therapy In Health Care (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Aging (R01AG041781)
- National Institute of Nursing Research (R01NR014200)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Occupational Therapy › Occupational Therapy Practice and Research
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Geriatric Care and Nursing Homes
- Keywords
- occupational therapy, non-pharmacological treatment, multidisciplinary care, clinical reasoning, dementia care
- MeSH terms
- Aggression, Mental Disorders, Cooperative Behavior, Delusions, Dementia, Hallucinations, Humans, Occupational Therapy, Patient Care Team, Psychomotor Agitation, Antipsychotic Agents, Caregivers, Disease Management, Professional Role, Apathy
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