Course Description

The goal in providing therapy to persons with dementia is to maintain their current abilities and improve them if possible with therapy. In this module, the student will learn the purpose of therapy and the different approaches depending on the person’s type of dementia and level of impairment.  The student will also learn the role of occupational therapy, the role of physical therapist, and the role of speech therapists, and how he/she can work with them to integrate the rehabilitation in the daily activities of the person with dementia in order to achieve best outcomes. Students will learn to develop simple activities for persons with dementia depending on the stage of the illness. Such activities will teach the student to plan, initiate, communicate, adapt and be sensitive to patients responses. In this module, the student will learn one module of dance therapy called INDAK (Improving Neurocognition through Dance and Kinesthetics) and teach the module to elderly person/s with dementia when they are asked to.  In doing all these activities, the student will learn to value quality time and experience with patients.