Effect of an intervention with circle dances in the state of mind of family caregivers of elderly with Alzheimer's Disease: a clinical trial

Abstract

The Alzheimer's disease (AD) causes a decline in cognitive and motor functions, leading the patient to rely on help to perform activities of daily living. Care is usually performed by family members, often also elderly. The high complexity of the task imposes physical and emotional overload on the caregiver, compromising his health. An adverse health outcome that has not yet been studied is negative mood states, which seem to be associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms, stress vulnerability and overload. The literature suggests that regular practice of physical exercise with music may be a good alternative to improve the mood of older caregivers. In this context, circle dances (CD) present as a possibility of intervention, but still little used and investigated in the scientific environment. Thus, the main objective of this study will be to evaluate the effect of a CD intervention on the state of mind of family caregivers of elderly with AD. It will consist of a clinical trial in which 10 family caregivers will participate in a 60 minute CD session. The evaluation will include: Anamnesis and a List of Reduced and Illustrated States of Mind. To analyze the effect of the intervention will be used parametric t test or Wilcoxon non-parametric test. In all analyzes, a significance level of pd0.05 will be adopted. At the end of the study it is expected that the intervention with CD positively influences the mood of the participants.