Table 2.

Included studies.

Study	Environment	Design	Sample	Intervention
Acton et al. (2007) [89]	Nursing home	Pretest posttest	9 women, 1 man diagnosed with dementia, mean age 81 years (range: 76–88); MMSE range: 2–25	Individualized communication prescriptions developed using Kitwood's strategies for enhancing social communication.
Allen-Burge et al. (2001) [88]	Nursing home	Pretest posttest	10 individuals enrolled, 8 completed;	Memory book plus training for nursing assistants (2 2-hour education session plus “hands-on” training, staff taught to monitor and record their use of communication skills.
			2 men, 6 women, mean age 76.9 (11.7) years, average MMSE 16.25 (5.39), 5 diagnosed with dementia, 3 with “questionable dementia”
Bourgeois (1990) [27]	Community	Multiple baseline single subject	3 women, diagnosed with probable AD, aged 59–66, MMSE 12–18,	Memory book plus spouse trained to train the participant to converse using the memory book
Bourgeois (1992) [90]	Community	Multiple baseline single subject	3 women, 6 men, aged 67–93, MMSE 11–21	Memory book with or without primary caregiver trained to train the participant to converse using the memory book.
Bourgeois and Mason (1996) [24]	Daycare centre	Multiple baseline single subject	2 women, 2 men, 2 diagnosed with AD, 1 with possible AD, 1 with senile dementia, aged 74–80, MMSE 7–21	Memory wallets plus training for daycare volunteers
Bourgeois et al. (2001) [25] Dijkstra et al. (2002) [87]	Nursing home	Lower-quality RCT	Intervention group: 4 men, 29 women, mean age 85.7 (5.2), mean MMSE 11.9 (6.9)	Memory book plus training for nursing assistants (both education sessions and training during care—average of 8 sessions overall)
			Control group: 8 men, 25 women, mean age 84.3 (6.6), mean MMSE 13.1 (7.1)
Burgio et al. (2001) [30]	Nursing home	Lower-quality	Intervention group: 9 men, 25 women, mean age 81.8 (8.9), 52.9% had a diagnosis of dementia in chart, mean MMSE 13.5 (6.7)	Memory book plus training (use of memory book plus general communication skills and hands-on training).
			Control group: 8 men, 25 women, mean age 82.4 (7.1), 72.7% had a diagnosis of dementia in chart, mean MMSE 12.9 (6.0)
Cott et al. (2002) [91]	Nursing home	High-quality RCT	Talk only group: 10 men, 15 women, mean age 81.7 (7.34), mean MMSE 5.4 (6.0)	Talk only: conversation while sitting with another resident and an RA, 30 min/day, 5 days/week × 16 weeks
			Walk and talk group: 14 men, 16 women, mean age 83.2 (8.3), mean MMSE 6.2 (6.2)	Walk and talk: Supervised walking and conversation with another resident (prompts from RA) 30-min/day, 5 days/week × 16 weeks.
			Control group: 11 men, 8 women, mean age 79.8 (8.3), mean MMSE 6.3 (7.5)	Control group: neither intervention.
Gentry and Fisher (2007) [92]	Community-dwelling	Pretest posttest	3 men, diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, MMSE 24, 20 and 8	Direct versus indirect listener communication repair.
Hoerster et al. (2001) [93]	Nursing home	Multiple baseline single subject	4 women aged 83–90, 2 diagnosed with AD, 1 with multi-infarct dementia, 1 with organic brain syndrome	Memory book plus investigator training of participant and instructions to caregiver.
McCallion et al., (1999) [94]	Nursing home	Lower-quality RCT	Intervention group: 2 men, 30 women, mean age 86.4 (6.6), mean MMSE 5.8 (6.3)	Family visit intervention program: 4 90-minute group education sessions plus personalized feedback to family members on their interactions with participant.
			Control group: 12 men, 22 women, mean age 85.5 (6.7), mean MMSE 8.0 (7.1)
Pietro and Boczko (1998) [95]	Nursing home	Nonrandomized controlled trial	Intervention group: 20 participants, mean age 84.6 years (4.7), mean MMSE 15.6 (4.0) range 8–21	Breakfast club (breakfast-related activity plus structured conversation 5× /week over 12 weeks) versus conversation group.
			Control group: 20 participants, mean age 86.2 years (6.0), mean MMSE 13.8 (4.8) range 5–24
Spilkin and Bethlehem (2003) [96]	Nursing home	Case study	1 man, 85 years of age, AD for 7 years, CDR rating of 3	Memory book, handout on basic strategies of communication given to daughter, 1-hour instructional workshop developed from conversational analysis of 2 10-minute interactions with his daughter.