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P2‐518: A FEASIBILITY STUDY ON IMPLEMENTATION OF VESTIBULAR REHABILITATION AS A FALL PREVENTION STRATEGY IN PATIENTS WITH COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT
Author(s) -
Varriano Brenda Maricela,
Sulway Shaleen,
Wetmore Curt,
Dillon Wanda W.A.,
Misquitta Karen,
Multani Namita,
Anor Cassandra Jessica,
Martinez Maria,
Cacchione Elena,
Rutka John,
Tartaglia Maria Carmela
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
alzheimer's and dementia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.713
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1552-5279
pISSN - 1552-5260
DOI - 10.1016/j.jalz.2018.06.1212
Subject(s) - vestibular system , medicine , cognitive impairment , visual impairment , dementia , rehabilitation , physical medicine and rehabilitation , audiology , physical therapy , mood , balance (ability) , cognition , disease , psychiatry
ADRD often isolate themselves as the disease progresses, which can accelerate cognitive decline. To combat such isolation, many communities are striving to become dementia friendly. We developed an interdisciplinary service-learning course at the University of Wisconsin, Madison that involves students with local dementia-friendly groups. The course prepares future professionals in healthcare and allied fields to meet the needs of people living with ADRD and their family caregivers. We use simulation, proven to improve performance in real-life scenarios, to prepare students to work with people living with ADRD. We created our own simulations that address common challenges faced by people living with ADRD, based on input from family caregivers, community partners and faculty across disciplines. Our simulations involve multiple people in roleplay scenarios including a clinic appointment, bank visit and grocery shopping. Our goal was to provide realistic, inexpensive training materials for academic and community settings that could reduce stigma and improve the quality of life for both people living with ADRD and their family caregivers. After developing, testing and refining six dementia simulations, we produced campus and community versions of a dementia simulation toolkit that includes all information needed to benefit from the simulations in different settings. The campus toolkit is geared toward university students, with an emphasis on the professional competencies relevant to their future careers. The community toolkit employs lay language and is designed to support dementia-friendly community efforts. Both toolkits contain evaluation materials that can be used to conduct academic research or track community progress. We hypothesize that use of the toolkits will reduce stigma and improve quality of life for those living with ADRD and their family caregivers. We will assess the simulations’ effectiveness in academic and community settings and make the toolkits widely available in summer 2018.