McKnight’s reports that a “nursing home resident with Alzheimer’s might forget receiving poor or negligent care, but the bad feelings created by ill treatment still could persist,” citing researchers at the University of Iowa.
McKnight’s reports that “investigators showed sad and happy films to 17 Alzheimer’s patients and 17 people with healthy cognition, then assessed their memories of the movies and their emotional states. Those with Alzheimer’s quickly struggled to recall details of the films, or even that they had just seen a film. However, the feelings of sadness or happiness created by the movies lasted for up to half an hour.”
“Quite strikingly, the less the patients remembered about the films, the longer their sadness lasted,” the university noted in a press release. “While sadness tended to last a little longer than happiness, both emotions far outlasted the memory of the films.”
According to McKnight’s, the findings show that caregivers can have a powerful impact on residents’ well-being by doing “simple” things, citing lead author Edmarie Guzman-Velez, a doctoral student in clinical psychology.
Click here to review the review the study, “Feelings Without Memory in Alzheimer Disease,” which is published in Cognitive & Behavioral Neurology, the official journal of the Society for Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology.
The Kosieradzki • Smith Law Firm represents clients in cases involving catastrophic injury caused by nursing homes and other care facilities that fail to provide proper care. If you believe your loved one has been harmed due neglect or abuse in a nursing home, take action and contact the Kosieradzki • Smith Law Firm online or call us toll-free at (877) 552-2873 to set up a no-cost, no-obligation consultation.
