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Supportive psychotherapy in dementia

Ola Junaid is a consultant in old age psychiatry in Nottingham (St Francis Unit, Nottingham City Hospital, Nottingham NG5 1PB, UK. Email ola.junaid{at}nottshc.nhs.uk) and an associate postgraduate dean in the Trent Multiprofessional Deanery. His interests include all aspects of dementia care, service provision and postgraduate medical education. Soumya Hegde is a specialist registrar in old age psychiatry at Derby City General Hospital. Her research interests are alcohol misuse in elderly people and the non-pharmacological management of dementia.

The role of psychotherapy for elderly people is the subject of much debate. Yet this has not resulted in a shift of resources towards increasing its availability within the UK’s National Health Service. Over the past decade the pessimistic view of psychotherapy for elderly people has diminished owing to the growing evidence base and the commitment of champions in old age psychiatry and psychotherapy. However, there is still very little structured research into psychotherapy in dementia. Supportive psychotherapy is a poorly understood but very practical means of helping people with dementia to adjust to the effects of their illness. Its inherent flexibility enables individual sessions to be tailored to the patient’s needs and deficits. An understanding of supportive psychotherapy and its benefits could enable clinicians to improve the quality of life of people with dementia and their carers within the ever-present constraints of limited time and resources. This article explores the use of supportive psychotherapy as a treatment option in dementia.

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