| resumeang: Psychological treatments with older adults were evaluated against criteria developed by the Division of Clinical Psychology of the American Psychological Association for documenting effective psychosocial interventions. Use of behavioral and environmental treatments for behavior problems in dementia patients met criteria for 'well-established". Several treatments met criteria for "probably efficacious" cognitive, behavioral, and brief psychodynamic therapy with depression; life review for individuals with symptoms of depression or living in settings that restrict independence; cognitive behavioral treatment of sleep disorders; support groups for caregivers based on a psychoeducational model; and memory and cognitive retraining with dementia patients. The criteria requiring randomized controlled trials using treatment manuals have been criticized because interventions in such studies do not always map well on to actual clinical practice. The criteria also suffer from not taking negative evidence specifically into account in arriving at conclusions. Nonetheless, the approach offers important guidance for empirically informed practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2000 APA, all rights reserved): |
