The increase in life expectancy in recent decades has led to a substantial increase in diseases associated with aging such as dementia.
They constitute the main cause of disability and dependency and carry a very high morbidity and mortality, which represents a significant economic, social and health-related expense. (Muñoz et al., 2009).
The dementia and neurodegenerative diseases They consist of an alteration of cognitive functions, which affect performance in the ability to correctly carry out activities of daily life and take care of oneself. They are irreversible neurodegenerative disorders that cause persistent global deterioration.
Cognitive deficits usually manifest with a impaired memory and attention, aphasias, agnosia, apraxias, and impaired executive functions.
All these alterations cause a significant deterioration of the social, work and daily life of the affected person.
The usual intervention that had been carried out was only of a pharmacological type, since it was believed that any attempt at cognitive intervention would present little or no effects.
But the biomedical perspective on the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases has been questioned in recent years due to its reductionist vision and its clearly disease-centered approach. Drugs cannot provide the solutions sought by not promoting an interactive individual and promoter of their own autonomy.
In recent years, it has been proven that dementias in mild and moderate stages can benefit, in addition to pharmacological therapies, of other types of therapeutic strategies such as cognitive rehabilitation.
Cognitive rehabilitation is defined as a set of techniques and strategies that aim to optimize the effectiveness of the functioning of different cognitive capacities and functions (perception, reasoning, abstraction, memory, language, orientation and apraxia), through a series of situations and specific activities (Muñoz et al., 2009).
It has its scientific basis in the knowledge provided by disciplines such as neuropsychology, cognitive psychology, the psychology of learning and of motivation and emotion.
It affects, in addition to the cognitive part, also in aspects such as affectivity, the behavioral, social, family and biological sphere, seeking to intervene on the person in a comprehensive way, without focusing solely on the disease.
Its purpose is to reduce dependency, working on the capacities that are still preserved, slowing down the deterioration process, to avoid frustration and contribute to a global improvement in behavior, mood, the feeling of self-efficacy and self-efficacy. self-esteem.
The basis of this intervention rests on the conception of brain plasticity, which refers to the possibilities of functional adaptation of the central nervous system to minimize the effects of functional and structural alterations (Muñoz et al., 2009).
This plasticity allows adaptation to new circumstances thanks to the ability of the nervous system to change, And although it is a capacity that is not lost, it is necessary to promote it so that it allows the maintenance of cognitive and psychological capacities for as long as possible..
All cognitive rehabilitation programs start from the basis that older people are capable of learning (Calero, 2000; Fernández-Ballesteros, Zamarrón, Tárraga, Moya, and Iñiguez, 2003; i Junqué, 1994).
Most of the studies that assess the efficacy and effectiveness of non-pharmacological interventions have positive results, since people who suffer neurodegenerative diseases benefit from aspects such as the delay in institutionalization, the improvement of cognitive functions, increased autonomy to carry out activities of daily living, influence behavioral alterations (Olazaran et al, 2010), improve communication, social interaction and provide well-being and quality of life (Aguirre et al, 2013).
Cognitive rehabilitation therapies seem to favor several of these aspects (Muñoz et al., 2009), focusing on areas such as:
Therefore, it is convenient to highlight the need to raise awareness among the general opinion of the suitability of these treatments, consolidating itself as a very useful and potentially cost-effective tool to improve the clinical manifestations and the quality of life of the patient..
The fact of power increase the level of independence, perceived control and self-esteem end up having an impact on the improvement of emotional disorders and this improvement affects the Cognitive abilities of the sick.
In addition, it also attends to the maintenance of the link with the patient's social environment, the work of positive identity, motivation, self-efficacy and improvement in the patient's quality of life.
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