P2‐541: A NON‐PHARMACOLOGIC CLINICAL STUDY OF NURSING HOME RESIDENTS WITH ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE AND DEMENTIA USING TIMESLIPS

Background: TimeSlips , a group storytelling program that encourages creative expression among patients with Alzheimer’s disease (ICD-10 G30.9)/Dementia (F.03.90), which stimulates creativity and imagination rather than generates frustration in patients to recall exact details. It was used at two locations of a nursing home based on favorable results in an initial case study, Reduction of Agitation and Anxiety Observed in a Case Study of People with Dementia Using the TimeSlips Creative Expression Program (Sullivan, Sillup & Klimberg; accepted in 2017 and forthcoming in the International Journal of Behavioural & Healthcare Research). Methods: After training and IRB approvals, one location of the nursing home was designated as the study arm (TimeSlips) and one location was designated as the control arm. To evaluate how well TimeSlips decreased symptoms of agitation and anxiety in residents with Alzheimer’s and dementia compared to other activities encouraging creative expression, e.g., art, 12 sessions were conducted with 18 residents in the TimeSlips arm of the study and 14 residents in the Control arm between October and December 2016. Responses were assessed using the Overt Agitation Severity Scale (OASS), which was determined to be an effective instrument to measure the responses of dementia patients (Sullivan, Sillup & Klimberg, 2015 in Applications of Management Science, Vol. 17). Results: Pairwise comparison of the TimeSlips Group’s postOASS scores were significantly lower (lower post scores indicate improvement) than pre-OASS scores (mean1⁄4.074 vs. .027). Of the 118 responses, 97.5% had no-to-positive effect, including 27.1% with one or more positive effect and 70.3% with no effect. Only two observations (1.2%) had higher OASS scores. For the control group, there was no significant difference between the preand post-OASS scores (mean 1⁄4 1.41 vs. 1.40). Of the 101 observations, 69.3% had no-to-positive effect, including 24.8% with one or more positive effect and 44.6% with no effect; 31 observations (30.1%) had higher post-OASS scores. Conclusions: The TimeSlips group had consistently lower post-OASS scores than the control group, suggesting its promise as a creative-expression interventional activity for nursing home residents with dementia, who express symptoms of anxiety and agitation.