Evidence-Based Practice Recommendations for Working with Individuals with Dementia: Group Reminiscence Therapy

In 2001, the Academy of Neurologic Communication Disorders and Sciences (ANCDS), in collaboration with the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA), its Special Interest Division 2 (SID-2: Neurophysiology and Neurogenic Speech and Language Disorders), and the Veterans Administration (VA) established a committee to write evidence-based practice guidelines for speech-language pathologists (SLPs) serving individuals with Alzheimer dementia. The writing committee developed a technical report with evidence tables, based on a systematic review of the literature related to interventions that SLPs would likely carry out with individuals with Alzheimer disease. In this clinical paper, results of the review related to reminiscence therapy are presented. The six studies reviewed were judged to provide Class II evidence to support the use of group reminiscence therapy to improve the functioning of individuals with Alzheimer dementia. A summary of the evidence supporting group reminiscence therapy is presented, followed by a discussion of practice recommendations and directions for future research.