Mobile game apps downloaded to a tablet in some cases are more effective than medication in treating patients with dementia, according to researchers at McLean Hospital in Middleborough, Mass.With dementia, which describes the wide range of symptoms associated with a decline in memory or other thinking skills severe enough to reduce a person’s ability to perform everyday activities, patient agitation can be a recurring problem that often must be treated with drugs, says Dr. Ipsit Vahia, McLeans medical director of geriatric psychiatry outpatient services.Dementia patients can be treated with medications such as donepezil, rivastigmine and galantamine that work by boosting levels of a chemical messenger involved in memory and judgment, says the Mayo Clinic. Other treatments as an alternative to drugs are art, music and other similar therapies that can effectively reduce symptoms of dementia and help patients, especially older patients, better cope with, agitation, Vahia says.Mobile game apps and computer tablets also can be an effective new course of treatment, Vahia says. In a pilot program researchers loaded a menu of 70 apps onto an Apple iPad. The apps were freely available on iTunes and varied greatly in their cognitive complexityfrom an app that displayed puppy photos to one that featured Sudoku puzzles, the hospital says.The researchers found that tablet use was safe for patients, regardless of the severity of their dementia, and that with proper supervision and training, the engagement rate with the devices was nearly 100%, Vahia says. Researchers also found that the tablets and mobile game apps demonstrated significant effectiveness in reducing symptoms of agitation, particularly among patients with milder forms of dementia.The biggest advantage is versatility, Vahia says. We know that art and music therapy can work. The tablet, however, gives you the option of switching from one app to another easily, modifying the therapy seamlessly to suit the individual and you dont need to invest in new equipment or infrastructure.The pilot project also demonstrated that mobile games apps can be effectively used to treat patients that dont speak English. The pilot study included one patient from Romania who did not speak English and was very withdrawn and irritable, and for whom medications were ineffective in controlling his symptoms. However, the patient began calming down when engaged online with games and YouTube.We started showing him Romanian video clips on YouTube, and his behavior changed dramatically and instantaneously, Vahia says. His mood improved and he became more interactive. The Romanian patient and medical support staff also started using a translation app so that staff could ask him simple questions in Romanian. The result is better interaction between the patient and care givers, Vahia says. These significant improvements are a clear testament of the tablets potential as a clinical tool, he says.Going forward McLean psychiatrists and staff will expand the use of mobile games to treat dementia patients based on the successful results of the pilot project. These significant improvements are a clear testament of the tablets potential as a clinical tool, Vahia says. McLean Hospital is the largest psychiatric affiliate ofHarvard Medical Schooland a member ofPartners HealthCare, a large Boston health system.

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