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Impact of TimeSlips creative expression program on behavioral symptoms and psychotropic medication use in persons
Winona S Houser1, Daniel R George1, Vernon M Chinchilli1
1Departments of Humanities and Public Health Sciences, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA.
Objectives:
To evaluate whether involvement in TimeSlips, a creative storytelling program, reduced mood and behavioral symptoms as well as psychotropic medication use in persons with dementia.
Methods:
A cluster-randomized pilot study compared two discrete dementia care units in one nursing home. The control cohort (N = 10) received standard-of-care activity programming, and the intervention cohort (N = 10) received standard-of-care plus two one-hour TimeSlips sessions per week for six weeks. Data on mood and behavioral symptoms and psychotropic drug prescriptions were collected, and within-group and between-group comparisons were performed.
Results:
Between-group comparisons did not reveal statistically significant differences in mood and behavioral symptoms. No differences in psychotropic drug prescriptions were found.
Conclusions:
Larger trials of longer duration are needed to determine whether involvement in TimeSlips reduces mood and behavioral symptoms that compromise quality of life for persons with dementia.
