The influence of occupational therapy on quality of life for individuals with dementia living at home in the community: a literature review

Background Dementia is the broad term used to describe a range of conditions, which effect the function of the brain. In addition to behavioural, emotional and social changes, dementia has a progressive decline in functional abilities (Cummins and Warren 2010; Olazarán et al 2010). As the prevalence of dementia diagnoses rise; the demands for occupational therapy services will escalate (Perrin et al 2008). Objectives To review the literature to establish current occupational therapy interventions for individuals with mild to moderate dementia and to ascertain the influence on quality of life and wellbeing for individuals with mild to moderate dementia who are living at home in their communities Methods The following databases were searched (AMED, Cinahl, Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, PsycARTICLES, PsycInfo, PubMed, UK & Ireland Reference Centre) for literature since 2005. Findings Over 1900 studies found. However, only three papers (Graff et al 2007b; Lam et al 2010; Voigt-Radloff et al 2011) specifically addressed quality of life for individuals with dementia in the community. Their findings were mixed regarding the influence occupational therapy has on quality of life. Conclusions Recent years have seen an increase in the literature for occupational therapy in dementia care. However, current research focuses mainly on caregiver burden and behaviour difficulties with limited research investigating the relationship occupations have in influencing the well-being or quality of life of the individual with dementia. Further research needs to investigate the complexities of wellbeing and quality of life for individuals with Dementia.