Magai Carol, Cohen Carl I, Gomberg David
Department of Psychology, Long Island University, Brooklyn, New York 11201, USA.
Int Psychogeriatr. 2002 Mar;14(1):25-38. doi: 10.1017/s1041610202008256.
Ninety-one mid- to late-stage dementia patients residing in nursing homes, along with their staff caregivers, participated in a study designed to assess whether training caregivers in sensitivity to nonverbal communication could enhance mood and reduce symptoms in patients and improve psychological well-being in caregivers. Patients and staff at three nursing homes comprised three groups that were randomly assigned to either a nonverbal sensitivity group, a behavioral placebo group that received instruction in the cognitive and behavioral aspects of dementia, and a wait-list control. Training consisted of 10 one-hour sessions taught by a clinical psychologist using prepared materials. Patient measures, which were taken at baseline and at 4 three-week intervals, included patient symptomatology (depression, agitation, behavioral symptoms), as reported by the staff caregivers, and positive and negative facial expressions of emotion elicited during a face-to-face interview and coded by trained research staff. Results indicated that positive affect increased sharply during the first 6 weeks after intervention in the nonverbal group, with the placebo and wait-list controls showing no change. There was also a decline in negative affect across time for all groups. Effects with respect to patient symptomatology did not reach significance. Caregivers in both training groups showed a decline in symptomatology, whereas the wait-list control group did not.
91名居住在养老院的中晚期痴呆症患者及其工作人员参与了一项研究，该研究旨在评估培训护理人员对非语言沟通的敏感度是否能够改善患者的情绪、减轻症状，并提高护理人员的心理健康水平。三家养老院的患者和工作人员组成了三个组，这些组被随机分配到非语言敏感度组、接受痴呆症认知和行为方面指导的行为安慰剂组以及等待名单对照组。培训由一名临床心理学家使用准备好的材料进行，共10节，每节一小时。在基线和每隔三周的4个时间点对患者进行测量，测量内容包括护理人员报告的患者症状（抑郁、激动、行为症状），以及在面对面访谈中引发的、由经过培训的研究人员编码的正面和负面情绪面部表情。结果表明，非语言组在干预后的前6周内积极情绪急剧增加，而安慰剂组和等待名单对照组没有变化。所有组的消极情绪也随着时间的推移而下降。在患者症状方面的效果没有达到显著水平。两个培训组的护理人员症状都有所下降，而等待名单对照组则没有。
