Efficacy of Cognitive Stimulation Therapy for people with Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia

Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (CST) is an evidence-based psychosocial intervention designed to support cognitive functioning, counteract psychological and behavioral symptoms and promoting quality of life for people with mild-to-moderate dementia. However, do its benefits relate to the dementia subtype?
The study recently published on the International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology addressed this issue comparing the short (immediately after the intervention) and long-term (3 months after the treatment completion) effectiveness of the CST across individuals with Alzheimer’s Disease and vascular dementia.
The results showed that the CST provided comparable short- and long-term benefits in general cognitive functioning across the two dementia subtypes. Moreover, the intervention proved effective in supporting communicative abilities in both dementia subtypes at short-term, while at long-term only individuals with vascular dementia obtained improvements in their language skills. Finally, the CST ameliorated mood more in individuals with Alzheimer’s Disease than in those with vascular dementia, and, viceversa, supported perceived quality of life more in individuals with vascular dementia than in  those with Alzheimer’s Disease.
These findings confirm the efficacy of the CST and suggest how it can provide nuance benefits depending on the subtype, and the related neuropsychological profile, of the neurocognitive disorder characteristic of each individual, with important implications for the use of this psychosocial intervention in clinical practice.

Authors: Federica Piras, Elena Carbone, Riccardo Domenicucci, Enrico Sella, Erika Borella
Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1697260024000759?via%...