Occupational Therapy in Senile Dementia Wards

Abstract

The Purpose of senile dementia wards is twofold. First, it is to hospitalize elderly people with dementia who are not bedridden but difficult to treat at home or in other facilities because of their mental problem and troublesome behaviors. Second, it is to provide them with mental healing and care. The patients of our ward are those with serious dementia who are hard to care for at home, those who have slight bodily problems but suffer from heavy mental conditions, and those bedridden suffering from both serious mental and bodily conditions. Many of these patients tend to have mental disease as well. In our ward, we evaluate conditions of dementia such as perception, memory and behavior which are observed during activities. Then in order to carry out activities smoothly, we design the content of activities or set up environments including countermeasures to be taken by the staff. This time, I am going to study the role of occupational therapy through case and activities of coloring pictures, collage (paper-pasting pictures) and seaing qustercloths.