Although the mission of Virginia Wesleyan College is not primarily research, a recent study aided by VWC students provides hope for patients at the center of much medical research today.
Dementia and other memory disorders are dreaded companions on the road to aging. According to the Alzheimer's Association, there will be a 40 percent increase in the number of Americans with dementia in the next ten years. The number is projected to increase by 46 percent in Virginia.
As our population lives longer, vulnerability to such problems increases proportionally, and identifying treatment can be a complicated task -- as frustrating as the loss of memory itself.
Fortunately, The Birdsong Initiative has demonstrated technological ways to reduce drug treatments for patients with dementia while increasing their engagement through exercises designed to stimulate mental activity.
The answer? Computers.
The 24-week study was conducted in 2015 by researchers at Eastern Virginia Medical School, with hands-on support from 20 Virginia Wesleyan students in recreational therapy.
They were trained a year ago in how to administer assessment tools, collect data and provide patient support as part of a course taught by VWC Assistant Professor Wayne Pollock in Recreation and Leisure Studies.
Residents of the Hoy Nursing Care Center used touchscreen computers with the goal of increasing socialization and improving mental health while reducing the need for antipsychotic drug therapy. Using pictures, video and email to stimulate cognitive ability and connections to family, the program produced important results.
Behavioral "episodes" were less common or ceased completely in some patients, lessened in intensity for many others, produced lower levels of depression and led to increased brain power. Caregiving staff experienced lower levels of stress.
Eighty-six percent of participants saw some reduction in the need for antipsychotic drug therapy.
I attended the unveiling of the results of The Birdsong Initiative at Westminster-Canterbury on Chesapeake Bay in Virginia Beach. There were audible gasps when the data were previewed.
As the patients in the study had discovered new pathways through their mental powers, so, too, it seemed that those who attended the announcement were closer to serving them more effectively.
In announcing the results of the study, Westminster-Canterbury noted that patients were also inclined to use the computers on their own -- over and above the time devoted to the sessions with the students.
"This flies in the face of conventional thinking that people with dementia can't learn and enjoy new things," said Westminster-Canterbury's President Ben Unkle in a media release.
Suffolk's George and Sue Birdsong -- she is a Westminster-Canterbury Foundation board member, and both are longtime friends and supporters of Virginia Wesleyan -- were recognized for making possible the study that bears their name. They were characteristically humble about their role.
Yet there is no doubt that their funding of the initiative portends possibilities in a vital area of research -- not to mention its impact on students who participated and others who may follow them. Future studies on aging are planned through Westminster-Canterbury.
The Birdsong Initiative underscores dramatically the importance of investing in behavioral research, and the value of bringing various partners together in a common quest for answers.
As medical science explores ways to unlock the complexities of diseases related to aging, the results of this study offer welcome news -- and hope.
# # #
Dr. Scott D. Miller is President of Virginia Wesleyan College in Norfolk/Virginia Beach. Previously, Dr. Miller served as President at Bethany College in West Virginia (2007-15), Wesley College in Delaware (1997-2007) and Lincoln Memorial University in Tennessee (1991-97).
He wrote this for the April 10 issue of The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA)