Dr John Hindle
Betsi Cadwaladr Universitry Health Board
United Kingdom
Cognitive rehabilitation for Parkinsons disease dementia: a pilot
Health and Care Research Wales
199,577
01/10/2013
2
Parkinsons disease is a common condition that causes problems with
movement. It also causes memory problems which can develop into
dementia. People with a similar condition called Dementia with Lewy
Bodies also have memory and movement problems. For both conditions
drugs are the main form of treatment but are limited by side-effects and not
everyone can take them. There is growing interest in developing
treatments that do not use drugs so that more people with memory
problems may receive these treatments. A treatment which focuses on
improving memory has been shown to be useful in Alzheimers disease but
there are no studies that have used the same treatment with people with
Parkinsons disease or people with Dementia with Lewy Bodies. This study
aims to find out whether this treatment can improve memory performance
in people with Parkinsons disease and Dementia with Lewy Bodies. To
make sure that the treatment is useful, people with Parkinsons disease or
people with Dementia with Lewy Bodies will receive either the treatment
which focuses on improving memory, a form of relaxation therapy or just
carry on with their usual drug treatment. Everyone who takes part in the
study will choose up to three activities or problems that trouble them and
that they wish to improve. The measure of success of the treatment will be
based mainly on the peoples experiences and satisfaction with their
success in achieving their own aims. A number of other measures of
success will also be used. The information from the study will be assessed
to decide on the effectiveness of the treatment compared with relaxation
therapy and treatment as usual. The results will help design larger studies
of non-drug treatments that improve memory so that more people with
Parkinsons disease or Dementia with Lewy Bodies can benefit.