Speech Therapy

Physical therapy aids in balance issues, shuffling gait and Parkinsonian features prominent in people with LBD.  PT helps facilitate range of motion in lower extremities which improves movement and motor function overall, especially in the legs. Activities consist of balance, dancing, and leg strengthening exercises. Once of the most prominent signs of Lewy Body dementia […]

Therapy animals have long been used to assist blind, disabled or otherwise ailing individuals. Dogs and pets of all kinds have become common in the treatment of those with dementia and related disorders. Obstacles faced with those with dementia include irritability, apathy, restlessness, depression, difficulty engaging in social activities, and risk of loneliness and isolation. Social situations […]

Occupational Therapy facilitates the function of motor and cognitive skills which are often affected by those with LBD.  Activities include developing a common language with care.  OT can help with hand-eye coordination, upper extremity functioning and stretching, visuo-spatial functioning, cognitive functioning, parkinsonian symptoms , simplifying words and commands to develop a common language, dressing, bathing, […]

Words are the medium for a therapist and music is the medium of a music therapist who is usually a trained musician. Although it will not change the course of a disease, music therapy will allow the person to engage and be much more capable of communicating more clearly. Music therapists work directly with patients and […]

Meditation may play an important role in slowing the progression of dementia. Those who practice meditation and yoga have less atrophy in the hippocampus (a small organ located within the brain’s medial temporal lobe at the center of the brain) and forms an important part of the limbic system, the region that regulates emotions.  It is […]

Drama therapy is an active experiential approach facilitating the person’s ability to tell his or her own story, solve problems, express feelings appropriately and achieve catharsis, improve interpersonal skills, and strengthens the ability to perform personal life roles with increasing flexibility.  Individuals have the opportunity to improvise and create story which stimulates the neuropathways of the brain. This […]

Dance Movement Therapy with the elderly began in America in the early 1940’s with Marian Chase, the mother of dance movement therapy. She worked with psychiatric and elderly patients at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Washington DC where she based her work on the principle that psychological issues are held within the body. She believed in […]

Sensory stimulation is the simplest form of gathering and processing for those affected by dementia and whose complex speech patterns have been affected. One of the reasons it is ideal for those living with dementia is because it allows for the processing of information that removes the cognitive overlay and emphasizes sensation alone. All of […]