Occupational Therapy News OTnews May 2020 | Page 55

STUDENT EDUCATION FEATURE
Cognitive stimulation therapy and
dementia
ohn Williams, a final year
occupational therapy student,
recently ran a Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (CST)
programme as part of a six-week project-based
placement at Newton Community Hospital, a 30-bed hospital
rehabilitation ward, which has a multidisciplinary team of nurses
and therapy as a step down from the acute service in the area.
‘Service users have some time to recover from medical illnesses,
working with therapy staff to enable them to discharge,’ John
explains. ‘Some of the patients who come into the hospital have,
or are soon diagnosed with, dementia…. [but] often the hospital
environment is not very stimulating, which can affect service user
engagement in therapy.’
John chose the Canadian Model of Occupational Performance
and Engagement (CMOPE) for the project, ‘as it demonstrates how
changing the cognitive component of the person can affect the
person’s engagement in occupations’.
He says: ‘Cognitive Stimulation Therapy is a treatment for service
users who have mild to moderate dementia (www.cstdementia.
com). The sessions I created included playing records, talking
about holidays, sound bingo, talking about famous headlines, job
history, my life history cubes, musical instrument bingo, thinking
cards, talking about Christmas and creating Christmas cards.
‘After the session, patients’ progress was recorded using a
CST measuring sheet that focused on interest, communication,
enjoyment and mood.
‘Service users were given a sticker to put their name on
and wear throughout a session. The name sticker was used as
an icebreaker at the beginning of the session and as a way of
introducing myself to people in the group and to others within the
group.
‘The name sticker was left on after the session on purpose, as
following the session was hospital visiting time. I often saw family
members asking what the sticker was for, and this allowed the
service users to talk about the group they had been to with family
members.’
The name sticker also provided service users with a ‘common
theme’ to talk to each other about. ‘Four service users in the same
bay had the stickers on and began to talk to each other across
the bay… I could see and hear it had helped develop a sense of
community.
‘It was heart warming to watch the service users engage in
therapy. One session was full of laughter as we played musical
instrument bingo. Service users listen out for a musical instrument,
such as piano, name it to the group and mark it off on sheet.
‘One person kept saying it was a piano for every instrument;
they knew it was wrong, but kept saying it – her and the rest of the
Beveridge and Pentland (2020) conducted a
mapping review to identify, categorise and critically
consider the evidence for different models of
practice education used by health and social care
professions. Database searches returned 1316
records and seven papers were identified from other
sources. Following de-duplication and screening, 53
papers were reviewed and a typology of 14 models
of practice education developed (including one-
to-one, multiple mentoring and project-focused).
Findings included that whilst many models exist,
there is a lack of high-quality evidence for their
effectiveness. However, the review provided
insights into challenges associated with developing
and implementing different models, including the
importance of preparation and allowing sufficient
time for new ways of working. The authors suggest
the need for consistent terminology and more
effective ways of considering outcomes, to aid future
study.
J
Final year occupational therapy student John Williams talks to
OTnews about running a Cognitive Stimulation Therapy group on a
six-week project-based placement at Newton Community Hospital
Reference
Beveridge J, Pentland D (2020) A mapping review
of models of practice education in allied health
and social care professions. British Journal of
Occupational Therapy, Mar 03. [Epub ahead of print].
group laughing. I learned a lot in that moment – the service users
were engaged in the group so much that they could laugh, joke,
just have fun, and it did not matter that they were in hospital.’
John reflects that the project placement has been ‘extremely
important’ in his development as an occupational therapist.
‘It has enabled me to use my occupational therapy experience,
leadership and presentation skills, and demonstrate an
understanding of using an occupational model of practice with the
project,’ he says.
‘I was able to give a short presentation to the multidisciplinary
team on why CMOPE was chosen, explaining how CST would
improve cognition and wellbeing in the person, to which I had some
positive feedback. My communication skills have really developed
on this placement and this has also improved my confidence in
myself and as a professional.’
John Williams is in his final year of studying to be an occupational
therapist at the University of Salford
OTnews May 2020 55