Laughter could be the best medicine for elderly suffering dementia, besides it does not have any side effect. Researchers from the university of New South Wales found that resident patients who regularly received visits from a humour therapist shown twenty percent fall levels of agitation in comparison to those who received the normal treatment.
A study known as SMILE was carried out over the period of three years involving thirty-six nursing home and four hundred residents. Humour therapist Jean-Paul Bell, who generally works as a clown doctor for children, used a combination of games, joke and songs to encourage half of the elderly to laugh.
He dressed in a bright blue jacket having brass button and accompany with his songs by playing the ukulele. Researchers also trained a member of staff to act as laughter#mce_temp_url# boss to make sure carers integrated humour in day to day life to preserve the jolly atmosphere. The other two hundred residents received no extra doses of humour.
According to lead author Lee-Fay Low from the University of New South Wale’s School of Psychiatry, twenty percent sounds like a small effect but it is about the same amount, the same effect as you would get if you gave them an antipsychotic medication. This medication is used to treat schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder.
The whole idea behind the Play-Up programme and what they are doing is encouraging them to play more because it is believed that they have got potential to keep playing right until you take your last breath, stated Dr Bell. According to estimation by researchers from Oxford University one million people will be living with dementia in Britain within fifteen years.