Reminiscence Therapy for Dementia: An Abridged Cochrane Systematic Review of the Evidence From Randomized Controlled Trials
Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics
O'Philbin, L., Woods, B., et al. (2018).
Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, 18(9), 715-727.
This systematic review examines the effects of reminiscence therapy on quality of life, communication, cognition, and mood for individuals with dementia.
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Randomized controlled trials
16 (meta-analysis)
<div>Six randomized controlled trials examined the effects of reminiscence therapy compared to no treatment controls on communication and social interaction. Findings from the meta-analyses revealed a statistically significant difference favoring reminiscence post-treatment (SMD = −0.51). Four studies reported a statistically significant difference favoring reminiscence therapy at follow up (SMD = −0.49).</div>
<div>Fourteen randomized controlled trials examined the effects of reminiscence therapy on cognition. Individuals with dementia exhibited greater improvements on cognitive assessments when compared to controls. However, a significant effect was only reported when the intervention was delivered care home and was delivered individually rather than in a group format. No significant effects were reported at follow up.</div>
