Giving Compass' Take:

• Shirley Wang reports that sudies show that ecopsychosocial intervention is a cost-effective way to help individuals suffering from dementia. This type of intervention aims to meet patients psychological and emotional needs rather than utilizing medication. 

• Why is it important to develop patients' sense of independence and control?  Could these types of interventions be applied to more than just dementia patients? 

• Learn about certain lifestyle changes that you can make to reduce the risk of getting dementia. 

In nursing homes and residential facilities around the world, health care workers are increasingly asking dementia patients questions: What are your interests? How do you want to address us? What should we do to celebrate the life of a friend who has passed away?

The questions are part of an approach to care aimed at giving people with memory loss and other cognitive problems a greater sense of control and independence. At its core is the idea that an individual with dementia should be treated as a whole person and not "just" a patient.

Scientists sometimes call this approach an ecopsychosocial intervention. The goal is to create environments that better meet patients' psychological and emotional needs through strategies other than medication.

At the Alzheimer's Association International Conference this week in London, researchers from the U.S., the U.K. and Israel presented data from four trials demonstrating that such interventions significantly improve residents' mood and quality of life. The interventions can also reduce their use of antipsychotic drugs and improve their ability to care for themselves.

Taken together, these studies and others suggest that relatively simple and potentially cost-effective interventions can yield significant benefits for people with dementia, even those in residential facilities in the later stages of disease.

Read the full article about how engagement can help dementia by Shirley Wang at NPR.