A recreation therapy twist to sign language: An intervention for primary progressive aphasia

This thesis examines the feasibility of the ASL for Active Living Program as an intervention for clinical practice among individuals with memory loss and/or aphasia with associated depression. It strives to answer the following questions: First will an eight session RT intervention impact on symptoms of depression in individuals with mild memory loss and aphasia? Second, will participation in this intervention change levels of self-esteem? Third, to what extent will the older adult participants be able to learn and retain finger-spelling and vocabulary taught? Lastly, will participants be satisfied with this type of intervention?;The first chapter reports the current trends of an aging society, as well as the increase in co-morbid disorders such as depression. The second chapter provides a thorough literature review which clearly identifies Mild Cognitive Impairment and Primary Progressive Aphasia as well as describes efficacy studies that provide the foundation for this study. The third chapter identifies the ARCS theory and model, and its contribution to providing a solid foundation for intervention development. The fourth chapter describes the research process and highlights the methods and procedures used throughout the research process. Chapter five describes the data using a mixed methods procedure to report the success of this intervention developmental study. Results indicate this is a feasible intervention for the field of recreation therapy for the treatment of depression for those with memory loss and/or aphasia.