| 1) Cognitive therapies |
All those methods that stimulate a patient’s cognition and may also control BPSD in several ways, including cognitive stimulation and occupational therapy. |
Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (CST) |
An evidence-based rehabilitation technique to enhance residual cognitive abilities and functional skills and preserve implicit memory [47]; patients are involved in activities such as word association games, quizzes, number games, physical games, and creative activities [48]. |
| Occupational therapy |
It has the primary focus of preserving patients’ independence by improving their ability to perform ADLs and adapt to their living environment; it can also be administered in a home setting by trained caregivers [49]. |
| Reality Orientation Therapy (ROT) |
One of the most popular psychosocial interventions to manage dementia, it has the main goal of spatially and temporally reorienting patients, but it also helps the patient to maintain social interaction [50, 51]. |
| Reminiscence therapy |
It encourages patients to recall and talk about past experiences and events in their lives, either in individual or group sessions, and with the aid of props like photographs and videos [52]. |
| Learning therapy |
A combined form of cognitive training and stimulation (adopted especially in Japan and the U.S.), where instructors help patients to perform simple calculations or reading tasks with face-to face verbal communication [53]. |
| Art or music therapy |
Therapeutic use of art or music to provide a dementia patient with meaningful stimulation and improve her/his participation and level of self-esteem [54, 55]. |
| Intergenerational activities |
Interaction between children and people with dementia to improve the patients’ social interaction and sense of purpose [56]. |
| Doll and plushie therapy |
Usually used on patients with advanced dementia, it engages the patient in behaviours such as holding, cuddling, feeding and dressing dolls or plushies [57]. |
| Pet therapy |
Interaction of patients with animals, including activities such as petting, feeding, and playing with dogs and other animals [58]. |
| 2) Physical activity interventions |
Interventions that can produce health benefits for patients, such as decreasing the number of falls and improving sleep and mood. |
Aerobic exercise |
Walking, cycling and gymnastics [59]. |
| Mixed exercise |
Aerobic exercise and Resistance training [59]. |
| Dance therapy |
Dance sessions with PwD combine exercise with creative expression and recreation activities [60]. |
| 3) Indirect strategies |
Strategies that include organisational and environmental changes, together with innovations in the delivery of care and support. |
Dementia care management programmes |
Interventions delivered in the community aiming to coordinate the treatment and care for PwDs with respect to their needs and the recommendations of evidence-based guidelines [61–63]. |
| Dementia Care Mapping (DCM) |
Observational tool that assists in the delivery of better formal care to PwDs, allowing for the adoption of a person-centred care approach to improve the quality of care of dementia patients [64]. |
| Managing Agitation and Raising Quality of Life (MARQUE) |
Manual-based intervention targeted at the staff of care homes, is designed to train them in the implementation of procedures to reduce agitation in dementia patients [65]. |
| Memory clinics |
Facilities that provide guidance, prescriptions, rehabilitation, and various non-pharmacological interventions to dementia patients [66]. |
| Group living |
Interventions that allow patients with a similar level of cognitive impairment to cohabite in a controlled environment [67]. |
| Assistive technology, telehealth and telecare |
Electronic or mechanical devices that can support independence and improve quality of life by assisting with daily living activities, reducing harmful risks and improving communication [68]. |
| 4) Interventions primarily targeted at family caregivers |
Interventions with the primary goal to reduce the burden of care on the family caregivers of a PwD. |
Respite care |
Any kind of arrangement that provides short-term relief to primary caregivers by providing the patient with an alternative source of care and supervision; adult day centres and nurse visits are both forms of respite care [69, 70]. |
| Programmes for caregivers |
Any intervention, usually of a psychosocial nature, that is primarily aimed at the primary caregivers; examples are support groups, family meetings, and coping strategies [71–75]. |
| Assistive technology, telehealth and telecare |
Telehealth support that links family caregivers to tailored feedback from dementia care experts based on caregiver‐initiated video recordings of challenging care situations [76]. |
| 5) Multicomponent interventions |
Protocols that combine two or more different interventions included in categories 1, 2, 3 and 4. |
Wellbeing and Health for People with Dementia (WHELD) |
Implemented within a person-centred care framework, it includes physical exercise, approaches to reduce agitation, and psychosocial activities [77, 78]. |
| Integrated approaches |
Personalised bundles of non-pharmacological interventions for the patient-caregiver dyad that are chosen after mapping their needs [79, 80]. |
| Multicomponent support programmes |
Targeted at couples for whom one of the spouses suffers from dementia, they are support programmes that include group meetings for the caregivers, scheduled assessments by a geriatrician, and individualised services for the couple [81]. |
| Journeying through Dementia (JtD) |
Targeting the early stages of dementia, it combines occupational therapy with self-management and peer support [82]. |
| Motor, ADL, Cognitive and Social functioning stimulation (MAKS) |
Group-based intervention that targets patients in day care centers and which includes cognitive stimulation, ADL activation, sensory and social stimulation [83]. |
| Namaste Care Family program |
Person-centered care intervention for advanced dementia which combines psychosocial, sensory and spiritual components [84]. |
