"Art, Colors, and Emotions" Treatment (ACE-t): A Pilot Study on the Efficacy of an Art-Based Intervention for People With Alzheimer's Disease.

Francesca Baglio,Sara Isernia,Alessandra D’Amico,Francesca Lea Saibene,Elisabetta Farina,Federica Savazzi,Marco Rabuffetti,Margherita Alberoni,Raffaella Fioravanti,Gabriella Gilli,Raffaello Nemni

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01467

Abstract

Increasing evidence suggests that non-pharmacological therapies impact on neuropsychiatric symptoms and quality of life in people with Alzheimer’s disease. Among these, art-based interventions seem particularly suitable for elders’ rehabilitation as they act both on cognitive functions and quality of life. However, their benefits are not yet appropriately explored. The main aim of this quasi-experimental study was to test the feasibility and the likely efficacy of a novel multi-dimensional visual art intervention for people with Alzheimer’s disease (PWAD), named Art, Colors, and Emotions treatment (ACE-t). A group of PWAD (N = 10) was recruited from the Memory Clinic of Don Gnocchi Foundation to take part in the ACE-t. A historical control group that followed a usual care program (N = 10) was used for comparison. We considered both feasibility output (adherence and acceptability) and efficacy outcome measures (neuropsychological and neurobehavioral scales). We observed a good adherence to and acceptability of the ACE-t. The following significant intervention-related changes were also observed in ACE-t with respect to usual care: improvement in general cognition, as assessed with the Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale–Cognitive, amelioration in language, and in executive functions, and reduction in Neuropsychiatric Inventory Scale score. In conclusion, ACE-t could be considered as a suitable intervention for the rehabilitation of PWAD, with positive effects on the cognitive and the behavioral status. ACE is a promising new art-based intervention that merits further research, including confirmatory trials of our preliminary results.

Highlights

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a complex pathology consisting of a manifold of contributing factors to its etiology and implying a cognitive decline on multiple structural and functional layers
Pivotal studies in the field of art therapy highlight the beneficial effects of art-based interventions on multiple domains of people with AD (PWAD)’s well-being, such as cognition, functioning, and psychosocial abilities (Chancellor et al, 2014)
Given the residual creative art-making abilities of PWAD (Ehresman, 2013), working on the channel of emotions through art is recommended as a non-pharmacological intervention, facilitating the maintenance of residual cognitive abilities, slowing down psychiatric symptoms, and enhancing the quality of life

Summary

Introduction

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a complex pathology consisting of a manifold of contributing factors to its etiology (genetic and environmental variables, physical status, psychological well-being, etc.) and implying a cognitive decline on multiple structural and functional layers. In 2006, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) of New York launched the “Meet Me at MoMA,” an innovative art education program purposely for people in the early and middle stages of Alzheimer’s disease. In later years, this project was expanded worldwide at many museums with initiatives for people with AD (PWAD) and their caregivers (CGs) (Rosenberg, 2009). Art interventions are based on the so-called aging paradox (Prakash et al, 2014), according to which the progressive atrophy of prefrontal regions, with consequent decline of cognitive processing, is associated with the enhancement of the preserved emotional ones (Bucks and Radford, 2004; Klein-Koerkamp et al, 2012). There is evidence that the brain mechanisms and the cognitive processes involved in creative art activities are not irreparably damaged in AD (Ehresman, 2013)

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