Dementia patients need just one thing from visitors: Keep it upbeat

Short and sweet

We all have that person in our lives that always seems to shine just a little brighter. Mine was Betty. Always a smile, always full of life–until she was diagnosed with vascular dementia at age 51.

We lost Betty last year last year, just a few weeks shy of her 54th birthday. This was a huge blow for all of us who loved her. The truth is, we lost her a few years before that because of the dementia. But I will always remember Betty as one of the most bright and energetic people I’ve ever known.

Fortunately, Betty was very well cared for right to the end. She lived in a wonderful assisted-living facility, and her husband Don visited her often.

It’s that last detail that gives me the most comfort. Because according to new research, brief moments of happiness have long-range impact on quality of life for patients with Betty’s common type of dementia.

Lasting imprint

Your brain converts new information into memory in the hippocampus–an area of the brain that’s usually damaged in dementia patients. Long-term memories are still accessible, but new memories can’t be processed. So a patient can remember an old friend, but can’t remember that the friend paid a visit just an hour ago.

Even so, the visit makes a big difference.

University of Iowa researchers explored this phenomenon with a two-part experiment.

In part one, a group of patients (all with hippocampus damage) were shown sad film clips, such as the scene in Forrest Gump where Forrest is alone at his wife’s grave. These clips produced strong reactions, bringing some of the patients to tears.

Within 30 minutes of the last clip, all the patients had forgotten they’d watched the clips.

But in the Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences, the authors of the study write, “The patients continued to experience elevated levels of sadness well beyond the point in time at which they had lost factual memory for the film clips.”

Part two of the study followed the same design, but with funny or inspiring film clips. And the result was the same. Within minutes, the film clips were forgotten, but good feelings remained long after.

In an NPR report about the study, Justin Feinstein, leader of the UI team, offered this advice for caretakers: “Telling them a simple joke, calling them up on the phone, giving them a visit, could actually have these enormous positive benefits.”

Like the patients in the Iowa study, Betty’s hippocampus was damaged, so her short-term memory would last just a few minutes.

When I talked to Don and told him about the Iowa study, he was happy to hear it and said it was good to have science prove what he already knew. He told me that Betty never remembered special events such as family barbeques that were held at her living facility. But her spirits were always lifted for hours afterward.

Don also agrees with Feinstein’s advice: When the mood is positive, everyone is more likely to end the day on a good note–a huge plus for the patient. And maybe he isn’t a Ph.D. on the subject, but I would definitely consider Don an expert in this area.

Sources:
“Sustained Experience of Emotion after Loss of Memory in Patientswith Amnesia” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Published online ahead of print 4/5/10, pnas.org
“Emotions Outlast the Memories That Drive Them” Deborah Franklin, National Public Radio, 4/13/10, npr.org