Background: Harvesting activities have proven effective in reducing stress in patients with dementia. At a psychiatric hospital, occupational therapists (OT) made patients with dementia perform vegetable harvesting ac...Background: Harvesting activities have proven effective in reducing stress in patients with dementia. At a psychiatric hospital, occupational therapists (OT) made patients with dementia perform vegetable harvesting activities as a part of their treatment. The patients became calmer and began to smile not only after but also before and during harvesting activity. Therefore, this study aimed to measure autonomic nervous system (ANS) responses over time in a female patient in her 80s with moderate Alzheimer’s disease (AD) who had experience in farming when performing harvesting activities. Additionally, this study aimed to consider factors associated with changes in ANS responses over time and to verify the physiological therapeutic effects of harvesting activities. Methods: An OT with more than 10 years of experience and a good relationship with the patient conducted one-on-one sessions with the patient. Harvesting activity was performed in a courtyard with trees. The patient harvested lettuce (three lettuce plants) grown in a planter while sitting on a chair. Additionally, the planter was set up on a desk. ANS responses were measured over time from before to after the activity for different events at six time periods. Changes in the patient’s ANS responses were assessed during each period. Results: With the involvement of environmental factors and OT during harvesting activities, parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) activity significantly increased. This may lead to improved mental stability. Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate that implementing harvesting activities may have a positive effect on the PNS in patients with AD with long-term agricultural experience. However, further studies with a larger sample size and multidimensional evaluations are needed.展开更多
Background: In actual clinical settings, an occupational therapist (OT) encounters a patient with moderate Alzheimer’s disease (AD) walking with an anxious expression on the ward. The OT walks with the patient and en...Background: In actual clinical settings, an occupational therapist (OT) encounters a patient with moderate Alzheimer’s disease (AD) walking with an anxious expression on the ward. The OT walks with the patient and encourages them to look at the symbol tree in the center of the ward. Additionally, when the patient talks to the OT, the OT empathizes with them and responds appropriately. As a result, many patients feel less anxious and become calmer. Therefore, in this study, the OT walked with an elderly female patient in her 80s with moderate AD and measured the patient’s autonomic nervous system responses. The study aimed to verify to what extent the results matched the OT’s clinical observational perspective. Methods: An OT with over 10 years of experience and a good relationship with the patient conducted one-on-one walking sessions with the patient. We divided the sessions into five-time periods: when the patient and OT were sitting on a sofa, and when they were walking. We implemented the same approach to the patient as usual. Therefore, we prompted the patient to look at the symbol tree during the walking session. Additionally, when the patient talked to the OT, the OT empathized and gave appropriate responses. We checked the changes in the patient’s autonomic nervous system responses in each time period. Results: This study showed that when walking with an OT, patient with moderate AD had a significant increase in parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) activity. Therefore, it is suggested that the involvement of professionals such as the environment and the OT during walking training for Alzheimer’s patients may lead to improved mental stability. Conclusion: This study suggests that walking together with an OT may have a positive effect on the PNS of female patient with AD. The study also suggests that there is a potential agreement between clinical observation by the OT and evaluation results based on autonomous nervous system reactions. However, due to the limited number of patients, further studies involving a larger number of patients and multidimensional evaluations are needed.展开更多
文摘Background: Harvesting activities have proven effective in reducing stress in patients with dementia. At a psychiatric hospital, occupational therapists (OT) made patients with dementia perform vegetable harvesting activities as a part of their treatment. The patients became calmer and began to smile not only after but also before and during harvesting activity. Therefore, this study aimed to measure autonomic nervous system (ANS) responses over time in a female patient in her 80s with moderate Alzheimer’s disease (AD) who had experience in farming when performing harvesting activities. Additionally, this study aimed to consider factors associated with changes in ANS responses over time and to verify the physiological therapeutic effects of harvesting activities. Methods: An OT with more than 10 years of experience and a good relationship with the patient conducted one-on-one sessions with the patient. Harvesting activity was performed in a courtyard with trees. The patient harvested lettuce (three lettuce plants) grown in a planter while sitting on a chair. Additionally, the planter was set up on a desk. ANS responses were measured over time from before to after the activity for different events at six time periods. Changes in the patient’s ANS responses were assessed during each period. Results: With the involvement of environmental factors and OT during harvesting activities, parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) activity significantly increased. This may lead to improved mental stability. Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate that implementing harvesting activities may have a positive effect on the PNS in patients with AD with long-term agricultural experience. However, further studies with a larger sample size and multidimensional evaluations are needed.
文摘Background: In actual clinical settings, an occupational therapist (OT) encounters a patient with moderate Alzheimer’s disease (AD) walking with an anxious expression on the ward. The OT walks with the patient and encourages them to look at the symbol tree in the center of the ward. Additionally, when the patient talks to the OT, the OT empathizes with them and responds appropriately. As a result, many patients feel less anxious and become calmer. Therefore, in this study, the OT walked with an elderly female patient in her 80s with moderate AD and measured the patient’s autonomic nervous system responses. The study aimed to verify to what extent the results matched the OT’s clinical observational perspective. Methods: An OT with over 10 years of experience and a good relationship with the patient conducted one-on-one walking sessions with the patient. We divided the sessions into five-time periods: when the patient and OT were sitting on a sofa, and when they were walking. We implemented the same approach to the patient as usual. Therefore, we prompted the patient to look at the symbol tree during the walking session. Additionally, when the patient talked to the OT, the OT empathized and gave appropriate responses. We checked the changes in the patient’s autonomic nervous system responses in each time period. Results: This study showed that when walking with an OT, patient with moderate AD had a significant increase in parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) activity. Therefore, it is suggested that the involvement of professionals such as the environment and the OT during walking training for Alzheimer’s patients may lead to improved mental stability. Conclusion: This study suggests that walking together with an OT may have a positive effect on the PNS of female patient with AD. The study also suggests that there is a potential agreement between clinical observation by the OT and evaluation results based on autonomous nervous system reactions. However, due to the limited number of patients, further studies involving a larger number of patients and multidimensional evaluations are needed.
