Keiko Tsuchiya, OTR, PhD, Yuri Kanayama, OTR, PhD, Kenichi Ono, OTR, PhD, Kenichi Kobara, RPT, PhD, Tomoshige Koga, PhD
Jpn J Compr Rehabil Sci 6: 71-77, 2015
Objective: As a part of a day-care rehabilitation
program, we conducted table work and recreational
activities with elderly patients with dementia once a
week for 12 weeks. We examined the influence of the
differences in the contents and process of the activities
on the subjective QOL of the patients.
Methods: We used a modified version of the Affect
Rating Scale (ARS) to measure the changes in
subjective QOL, before and after performing the task.
Subsequently, we compared the rates of each change.
Results: The contents of table work were different in
each session. The rate of change in ARS scores was
significantly high after the 3rd session of table work
using red washi, which was made with traditional
methods of Japan, compared with those after the 5th
and 6th sessions. The recreational activity was the
same throughout the study. The 1st and 2nd trials
showed a slight difference, which was lower than that
observed in the 3rd to 6th session.
Conclusion: Each activity related to table work may
have influenced the rate of change. However, the rate
of change in the recreational activity remained the
same after it peaked. Thus, the characteristics of each
activity influenced the subjective QOL of the elderly
patients.
Key words: Elderly patients with dementia, Subjective Quality of Life (QOL), Activities at table, Recreation