DEMENTIA ( AN INTRODUCTION TO COGNITIVE STIMULATION THERAPY [ CST ] )

Photo used courtesy of Robwinningham.com

Hello everyone!

Back when I was in college four to five years ago, me and my colleagues conducted a research about an alternative method to treating dementia. This method is known as Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (CST). (If you are not going to ask, I'm a Nursing graduate.)

Photo used courtesy of Bea Alforque

This was me with my colleagues during our research paper defense. We got a verdict of 'Passed with Distinction' for our research output after this. The term 'Passed with distinction' means our research got approved to be having high quality content. Hurrah! :)

By the way, I am the guy in the picture. Sorry guys, I'm too shy to show my face. :(

*During my college days:

Photos used courtesy of Dana Vicente & Joe Mar

This 2016...

Photo used courtesy of Everfest.com

I am once again giving life to our research through this blog. Being here at Bitlanders  is a good chance for us to show to the world what we have achieved as a result of patience, hard work, and dedication. I want to share what we know because I believe that it can benefit a lot of people. If you know someone who has dementia (particularly old people aging from 65 to 70 years), please share it with him.

Photo courtesy of Quotes.lifehack.org

My first CST blog composes of rationale (the reason why we conducted the study) mainly comprising of dementia rather than the therapy first. I want you to understand where we are coming from and how important the therapy is. The detailed discussion on CST will be discussed in my next blog, so stay tuned.

Below is the rationale content of our study entitled: "COGNITIVE STIMULATION THERAPY : ITS FUNCTIONAL AND PSYCHOSOCIAL EFFECTS ON OLDER PEOPLE WITH MILD TO MODERATE DEMENTIA".

Creating memories is one of the brain's most remarkable functions. By relying on an intricate network of connected nerve cells in different parts of the brain, an experience can be recorded, stored like a biological file stuffed with emotions and sensory legacies and thus, recalled at will (Alzheimer's Research Foundation [ARF], 2011). However, growing old can never be denied. All aging humans will develop some degree of decline in cognitive capacity as the time progresses (Gossard, 2012). Perhaps the most widely acknowledged psychological change with age is the decline in memory (Mather & Carstensen, 2005).

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One of the common signs of this debility is forgetfulness where most people experience occasional lapses in memory. Such alteration might be frustrating to some older adults but this tends not to be disabling (Smith, Robinson & Segal, 2012). However, some would go through the irreversible deterioration of intellectual abilities which is not anymore claimed to be a normal part of aging. This refers to the so-called dementia. 

Dementia is a group of symptoms where there is a loss of brain function that affects most of its critical functions --- memory, thinking, language, judgment, reasoning, and behavior. The decline in these areas would eventually impair one's functional abilities to carry out everyday activities even to the simpliest ones. These activities may include driving, household chores and even personal care such as bathing, dressing, and feeding often called activities of daily living. Recalling and retrieving of words, attention, and orientation can also become common problems with dementia. Dementia in the elderly can produce significant deficits in functional abilities which affect their independence and safety. 

*How is it to live with dementia? Watch this: