Education and demonstration – Physical education
Reexamination Certificate
2001-04-24
2003-09-30
Banks, Derris H. (Department: 3712)
Education and demonstration
Physical education
C434S259000, C434S258000, C434S236000, C446S001000, C273S15300J, C273S156000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06626678
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a therapeutically and diagnostically useful method and articles for enhancing, through simple pleasurable activity, mental well-being of dementia patients and other people suffering substantial cognitive and/or physical impairment.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Progressive improvement in physical health in most populations of the world, most markedly in economically advanced countries, has led to a great increase in average human longevity. Unfortunately as people live longer they become more likely to suffer from various forms of neurodegenerative disease or dementia, including senile and presenile dementias and Alzheimer's disease. Furthermore, people can live with such disorders for long periods of time, often for many years, with only slow progression of the symptoms. Thus improving quality of life of dementia patients is becoming an ever greater need in modem societies.
A problem, particularly in advanced stages of dementia, is that sufferers can become unresponsive to attempts to communicate or interact with them. At the same time, they have in most cases lost the mental acuity to amuse themselves in essentially solitary pursuits that they may have previously enjoyed, such as reading, solving crossword puzzles, assembling jigsaw puzzles or playing games of solitaire. Simple children's toys such as building blocks can sometimes provide entertainment but are usually not well adapted to the particular needs of people whose mental and sensory faculties are in decline rather than in development.
There exists, therefore, a strong need for a way of entertaining and providing an activity focus to dementia patients, that is appropriate both for patients being individually cared for by relatives and for patients in residential or day-care facilities such as nursing homes, geriatric and psychiatric hospitals, etc.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention derives in part from an observation that in progressive dementias, patients often exhibit more pleasurable responses to stimulation of the sense of touch than to stimulation of other senses, including sight and hearing. In addition, many such patients have significantly impaired senses of sight and/or hearing without major loss of the sense of touch.
The present invention is, in one embodiment, a method of providing mental stimulus to a subject suffering significant cognitive and/or sensory deterioration, the method taking advantage in a new and useful way of the relatively unimpaired sense of touch of such a subject, and thereby enhancing the subject's psychological condition.
The method of the invention comprises causing the subject to handle an article comprising a plurality of pieces that (a) individually have a surface layer formed of a soft fabric, and (b) collectively exhibit differing tactility when handled by the subject.
A “subject suffering significant cognitive and/or sensory deterioration” herein can be a person having a medically diagnosed neurodegenerative disease, for example a dementia, especially a progressive dementia such as senile dementia or Alzheimer's disease; or a person manifesting symptoms of significant impairment of cognitive function, such as memory loss, short attention span, inability to learn new information, inability to interact socially, confusion, loss of verbal communication skills, disintegration of personality, judgment and social graces, etc.; or a person being cared for in a regimen adapted to the needs of a dementia sufferer, for example in a residential facility such as a nursing home, geriatric unit, etc.
The term “article” herein includes both an integral object having the pieces connected together, optionally removably, therein, and a kit comprising separate pieces. The article provided to the subject according to the method of the invention is sometimes referred to herein as an “activity aid”.
Soft fabrics herein illustratively include knitted, woven, piliferous and spongiform textiles and real and simulated furs, skins and leathers.
A piece can be constructed of two or more layers, of which a surface layer is formed of a soft fabric; alternatively a piece can consist essentially of the soft fabric surface layer. If desired, a piece can have two opposing surfaces formed of the same or different soft fabrics.
Pieces described herein as exhibiting “differing tactility” are readily distinguishable one from another, and/or have opposing surfaces that are readily distinguishable, by sense of touch alone. The differing tactility can result from the use of soft fabrics that are per se distinguishable by touch, or from other features of the pieces, for example subsurface layers distinguishable by touch through a lightweight surface fabric.
The pieces can be substantially identical in shape and/or construction, or can differ in shape and/or construction from one another, for example constituting two or more sets each comprising one or more substantially identical pieces.
In a presently preferred embodiment, differing tactility is provided at least in part by the soft fabric surface layers. Most preferably, at least one soft fabric used in a surface layer is a piliferous fabric. Without being bound by theory, it is believed that the act of handling a soft piliferous fabric provides particularly pleasurable tactile stimulation for a dementia patient and lends enhanced interest in the activity aid on the part of the patient.
For many subjects, it will be found sufficient to provide the activity aid, and the subject will spontaneously handle the pieces and derive pleasurable tactile stimulation thereby. The term “causing the subject to handle . . . ” an article as described herein will be understood to embrace the simple act of providing the activity aid to the subject, even where no further encouragement or assistance is needed to promote handling of the article by the subject. For other subjects, in particular those suffering more advanced stages of neurodegenerative disease, it may be found insufficient merely to provide the activity aid. In such a case, “causing the subject to handle . . . ” an article as described herein will typically comprise providing the article to the subject and encouraging and/or assisting the subject to handle the article so as to elicit a tactile stimulus.
In a further embodiment, a kit useful as an activity aid is provided, comprising (a) a plurality of tile elements having one or more faces that are compressively resilient to human touch, wherein each tile element comprises a soft fabric surface layer, a substantially rigid base or core, and a subsurface compressively resilient layer interposed between the surface layer and the base or core; and (b) a rack comprising means for engaging the tile elements at a plurality of loci on the rack, and a rack base whereon the tile elements can rest.
By “compressively resilient” is meant having the properties of (a) being compressible by a light force such as applied, for example, when pressing, stroking, rubbing or squeezing with the fingers, and (b) having a bias to return to an original conformation upon removal of the force. By contrast, the term “rigid”, as applied to a base or core of a tile element, means non-compressible and/or non-resilient.
The compressively resilient quality of a tile element according to the present embodiment can reside at least in part in a material of which the subsurface layer is substantially composed, provided the tile element has a surface layer of sufficient flexibility to transmit a light force, such as applied by a finger, to and from the subsurface layer. Examples of such subsurface layers include without limitation paddings (including battings, waddings and stuffings) and cells and cavities filled with air, liquid, gel or solid grains (including beans, rice grains, polystyrene prills and the like). Other suitable compressively resilient materials include without limitation natural and synthetic sponges, solidified foams, cork, rubber and certain soft plastics.
Alternatively or in addition, the compressivel
Forbes Elinor Isobel
Forbes James Carnegie
Banks Derris H.
Suhol Dmitry
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