A psychological evaluation made of an Alzheimer's sufferer from the of a course of say, 24 hours (or you fill in the number), that would tell us if that patient has up and down moods like most of us. Some things make one happy, some sad, some optimistic, sometimes hopeful, sometimes not..... More simply, is there a study that tells us about the emotion swings of an alzheimers sufferer. And the triggers? Thanks in advance.
I found this learned paper from the International Psychogeriatric Association:
International Psychogeriatrics Volume 8 Supplement 3 1996
Dementia Mood Assessment Scale by Trey Sunderland and Marcia Minichiello
which includes some relevant observations on the difficulties of evaluating mood (for this study they stuck to inpatients, but comment that caregivers of outpatients could readily follow the same process) and offers a checklist and journal template which you might find useful?
There is also a list of further reading. Of course it's all getting a bit old, but it might provide some leads to follow.
Your question about whether a study, or many studies come to that, could tell us anything about the emotion swings of an individual, though... That just reminds me of the Alzheimers Association mantra "when you've seen one person with dementia, you've seen one person with dementia." I would expect the variations in triggers and patterns to be as numerous as the people you're studying. Still! - at least we might get some insight into how best to observe the individuals we're trying to help.
I AM a medical researcher for NASA and some nearby hospitals. Thats why I'm still here. And not there.
So my logic tells me if we can establish a pattern of behavior, on an individual basis for sure, with the triggers (or lack thereof for sure) we can control the AZ sufferer's emotions to make them happy.
That can be done.
Thanks again for your reply.
Good luck with finding resources.
You might want to check with your local Alz. Assn. and see if this is still offered. At one time they were planning on producing a DVD. I don't know if that actually was done, or if any DVDs are still available.
Are you familiar with a Snoezelen Room? Although it doesn't provide a means to measure what they're upcoming mood swings might be, a Snoezelen Room provides good stimuli to improve their mood. It's a therapeutic environment.
The more the person can be exposed to an environment to improve their mood, I believe they would have less mood swings.
Not exactly an answer to your question, but thought you might find it of interest if you weren't yet familiar with it.
Yeah, the Snoezelen Room sounds interesting with the potential results it could produce!