USM Professor Speaks at Norwegian Conference About the Care of Persons with Dementia
August 26, 2010
Nancy E. Richeson
Practitioners today are struggling with ways to treat patients living with some 70 different kinds of diagnosed forms of dementia without relying on the overuse of medication. USM Professor of Recreation and Leisure Studies Nancy E. Richeson recently returned from the “Best Practices in Dementia Care” conference in Norway’s Stavanger University where she spoke on how animal-assisted and Reiki therapies can be incorporated successfully into the treatment regimes of persons with dementia.
The conference took scientific research about dementia and translated current data into practice. Richeson also offered training workshops for staff in a nearby teaching nursing home.
Richeson organizes an annual “Dementia Day Camp” that brings an international group of colleagues together. The group has met twice in Maine, where they shared their research on psychosocial interventions in dementia care.
Richeson is a Reiki master, teacher and practitioner, and animal-assisted therapy tester, observer, and practitioner who researches the use of these therapies for persons with dementia. She reports that dementia practitioners throughout the world are very interested in non-drug therapies to help patients deal with feelings of loneliness, depression, anxiety and agitation. Current research suggests altering a patient’s lifestyle and environment while adding activities that interest them is more helpful than introducing an assortment of medications. “The idea is,” Richeson says of current practices, “to enhance the quality of life as best we can.”
Richeson can be reached for interviews by calling USM Office of Public Affairs at 207-780-4200.
