WHAT DO THE iCST FINDINGS MEAN?

Individual Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (iCST) brings benefits for all involved.

iCST is an evidence-based intervention offering home-based mentally stimulating and enjoyable activities to people with dementia.

Taking part in the iCST intervention motivated people with dementia to keep their mind active and look for more information related to mental stimulation. Enhancing the caregiving relationship quality and improving carers well-being through iCST are the important and meaningful outcomes for people with dementia and their carers.

iCST could be a useful tool for carers and people with dementia. It provides an opportunity for dyads to spend quality time together and is an aid to communication and enhancing carer health related QoL and mood.

Both people with dementia and family carers valued mental stimulation and engaged in meaningful activities which helped them keep in touch and feel the world around them.

Given that iCST significantly improved the caregiving relationship quality and carer well-being, the programme might be a useful part of personally tailored home care packages, which may help maintain people with dementia in their own home for longer (7).

iCST also may be used in care homes for the person does not wish to participate in group activities or family members visit relatives in care homes.

From a clinical perspective, there are reductions in depressive symptoms and improvement in QoL in carers which can form the basis of low-cost, non-drug intervention.  This has the potential to prolong carers’ ability to provide care for the person with dementia and contribute to the cost-effectiveness of dementia care (Yaffe et al., 2002).  Enhancing the caregiving relationship through iCST may reduce carers’ “role strain” (Yang et al., 2014). 

To learn more about iCST and how to deliver it, please to join our one-day iCST dementia online training with Dr Phuong Leung.