認知症高齢者に対する環境設定の違いによる集団作業療法の効果

Effectiveness of group-oriented occupational therapy programs employing an environmental setting for the elderly with dementia

要旨：筆者らは認知症高齢者に対する集団作業療法における環境設定を工夫し，その効果を確認した．認知症高齢者15名を対象に集団作業療法を3ヵ月実施した．実施時の前半は机を縦に並べた環境に，後半は机を半円形に並べて対象者同士が顔を合わせる環境に設定した．対象者の変化は，東大式観察評価スケールと改訂長谷川式簡易知能評価スケールを用いて調査した．その結果，机を縦に並べた環境に比べ，机を半円形に並べた環境下で行った集団作業療法の方に，行動面の改善が認められた（p＜0.05）．また，集団作業療法の前後で認知機能面の変化は認められなかった．集団作業療法では，円形に机を並べるなどの環境設定で，実施効果を高められることが示唆された．

　This report confirms the effectiveness of environmental settings in group-oriented occupational therapy program for the elderly with dementia. Fifteen subjects participated in the program for three months. The program was divided into the two parts: the environmental setting of the first part displayed desks lengthwise, and in the second part the desks were arranged in a semicircle so the subjects could interact with each other face-to-face. Subjects' behaviors and cognitive functions were evaluated using the Todai-shiki observational rating scale (TORS) and Hasegawa's Dementia Scale (HDS-R). Subjects' behaviors were significantly improved in TORS. No significant change was observed in the cognitive functions in the subjects during the intervention. The results suggest that the environmental setting of arranging desks in a semicircle improved the results of group occupational therapy.