COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT, DEMENTIA, AND FUNCTIONAL DECLINE: OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY APPROACHES

Abstract

Cognitive impairment and dementia are also prominent factors in the impairment of function, loss of independence, and disruption of quality of life in older persons and in persons with neurological impairments (World Health Organization [WHO], 2019). Cognitive impairment affects attention, memory, executive process, and praxis, which eventually results in a decline in the performance of activities of daily living (ADLs) and meaningful occupations (Alzheimer’s Association, 2023). Modern cognitive sciences also bring attention to the cognitive-emotional interface in terms of the role of emotional processes in attention, consolidation of memory, decision-making processes, and the ability to perform functions relevant to persons with dementia (Shahi and Sultana, 2021). The importance of the role of occupation-focused, person-centered, contextual, and responsive occupational performance in the improvement of the consequences of cognitive impairment in terms of the impairment of functions can never be underestimated (American Occupational Therapy Association [AOTA], 2020). The focus of the chapter will be on the link between cognitive impairment, dementia, and the impairment of function, in emphasis of the outcomes of performance of occupation in terms of cognitive impairment in persons affected with dementia.