Hearing and Vision Interventions in Dementia Care
Summary
Hearing and vision loss frequently accompany dementia and magnify cognitive, functional and psychosocial challenges. Sensory deficits can undermine the accuracy of standard cognitive assessments and worsen social isolation, behavioural disturbances and caregiver burden. Interventions encompass device provision and optimisation (hearing aids, spectacles), environmental modifications (improved lighting, acoustic adjustments) and tailored support from trained therapists to promote adherence, communication strategies and meaningful activity. Recent work highlights the global relevance of integrated sensory care, demonstrating improvements in quality of life, reduced reliance on informal carers and enhanced participation in daily tasks. Culturally adapted, multidisciplinary programmes delivered in home and community settings show promise for scalable, cost-effective models that address unmet needs in diverse populations.
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Hearing and Vision Interventions in Dementia Care publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in hearing and vision interventions in dementia care across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Sensory intervention: A multi-component approach to assess and optimise hearing and vision function in people with dementia.
Dual sensory impairment: Concurrent deficits in both hearing and vision that compound cognitive and functional difficulties in dementia.
Instrumental activities of daily living (iADL): Complex daily tasks such as managing finances, cooking and medication that require intact sensory and cognitive abilities.
Compensatory strategies: Techniques or adaptations employed to offset sensory or cognitive deficits through alternative methods, tools or routines.
References
- Impact of an intervention to support hearing and vision in dementia: The SENSE‐Cog Field Trial. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry (2019).
- SENSE-Cog Asia: A Feasibility Study of a Hearing Intervention to Improve Outcomes in People With Dementia. Frontiers in Neurology (2021).
- The impact of combined age-related vision loss and dementia on the participation of older adults: A scoping review. PLOS ONE (2021).
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