The effect of cognitive stimulation therapy on apathy, loneliness, anxiety and activities of daily living in elderly individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer's

Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia, which is increasing worldwide. The progressive cognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms of Alzheimer's disease make the lives of patients and caregivers very difficult. This study was conducted to determine the effect of Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (CST) on apathy, loneliness, anxiety and activities of daily living of individuals with Alzheimer's disease. The study was conducted in Gaziantep Moral House between January 2023 and January 2024 in a randomized controlled experimental model. Prior to CST, Standardized Mini Mental Test was applied to the intervention and control groups to determine the cognitive levels of the individuals and randomization was performed. A total of 52 individuals comprising 26 intervention and 26 control groups were included in the study and constituted the sample of the study. Introductory Information Form, Apathy Assessment Scale (AAS), Geriatric Anxiety Scale (GAS), UCLA Loneliness Scale Short Form (UCLA-SF) and Functional Impairment in Dementia Scale (DAD) were used in the study. CST was administered to the intervention group twice a week in 14 sessions. Before the application, it was determined that the individuals in the intervention and control groups were homogeneous in terms of their descriptive characteristics. It was found that the individuals in the intervention and control groups had high levels of apathy and loneliness, and moderate levels of anxiety and daily living skills. After the intervention, it was found that the mean scores of the intervention group were significantly lower than those of the control group. In intragroup comparisons, it was determined that there was a significant difference between the pre-test and follow-up test of the post-test scores of the individuals in the intervention group after the CST application between the pre-test and follow-up test, and between the post-test and pre-test of the DAD. In line with the results of this study, CST was found to be effective in reducing apathy, loneliness and anxiety levels of Alzheimer's patients and increasing their daily living skills. It is recommended that the use of CST should be expanded in the field of psychiatric nursing and health professionals working in the field of elderly health.