Improvement in the quality of life between older adult men with dementia through multi-sensory stimulation and group yoga exercise

This study aimed to investigate the effects of these methods on quality of life among demented elderly men. In the present study which used a semi-experimental method، 80 elderly men aged from 60-88 years old were selected randomly (mean age=70/94) and divided into three experimental (Group yoga، multi-sensory stimulation and combined) and on control group. The results showed that there were significant differences in quality of life and its four domains in pre-posttests between three experimental groups. The combined group which exploited from both types of intervention had most improvements in scores of quality of life. Furthermore، yoga was more effective than multi-sensory stimulation in physical domain، while multi-sensory stimulation had more positive effects in environmental domain between demented elderly men. Overall، engaging demented elderly people in environments and activities which are high in diversity and frequency of stimuli can significantly help them from psychological، physical and social perspectives. The findings of this study can be applied in designing and practicing the health promotion programs for demented elderly people.