Effect of "breath of Fresh Air" Flash Activity on Dementia Agitation : Pilot Study

Non-drug therapies (NDT) constitute a strong axis of the person with dementia behaviour management. Among these NDT, the flash activities constitute a mode of intervention to prevent and control the expression of the most disruptive behavior. These are short-term activities with the objective of decreasing the behavioural disorders intensity in less than 15 minutes. The aim of this pilot study is to test the effect of a flash activity "breath of fresh air" compared to the usual relational care on the short-term decrease (15 min.) of the agitation in hospitalized dementia patients.

The "breath of fresh air" flash strategy is to offer the patient the possibility to go out of the medical unity and walking outdoor. When the caregiver identify a level of agitation greater or equal to two on the gravity score and greater or equal to two on the impact score with the NPI test (The Neuropsychiatric Inventory Test), the caregiver let the patient wandering in the outside lanes of the hospital and encourage him to us his senses. For example, the sight could be stimulated by looking at a bird. This variation of sensory stimulations enable a temporo-sensory break on the crisis, allowing the patient to turn his attention from the crisis context to another stimulation.