Spaced Retrieval (SR) is a memory training strategy that is used to aid persons with dementia in retaining novel information over expanding intervals of time. Spaced Retrieval has been used successfully to train persons with dementia to remember a variety of information and some researchers have successfully begun to pair this training strategy with external memory aids to provide support for persons with dementia when there is difficulty learning with verbal cues only. One application of SR

more »

... t continues to have little support in the literature is the use of SR in persons with dementia with a coexisting dysphagia. The development of SR to train persons with dementia has proven to be very successful and fortunately, the strategy is easily implemented in the clinical setting and is low cost. Its use can help to maintain independent functioning, thereby improving quality of life for persons with cognitive impairments. In this study SR and an external memory aid were used to teach five nursing home residents diagnosed with dementia and a coexisting dysphagia to use compensatory strategies (i.e., chin tuck, alternation of liquids and solids, lingual/finger sweep) at mealtime for oral intake. The purpose of this study was to (a) determine if SR, when paired with an external memory aid, is an effective technique to teach persons with dementia to use compensatory swallowing strategies; and (b) to learn if SLPs naïve to the study aims would judge post-training sessions as improved, or safer, in comparison to iii baseline sessions; thereby validating the changes due to SR training to use external aids during meals. Results indicated there was a treatment effect of SR training with the use of a visual aid for two to three behaviors for each of five participants. These study outcomes paired with social validation ratings demonstrated that persons with dementia could learn compensatory swallowing behaviors for safety during oral intake. iv Dedication I dedicate this work to my parents John R. and Wendy Benigas. Their love, encouragement and support throughout my education have not gone unnoticed. v Acknowledgments First and foremost, I would like to praise God for providing me the opportunity to grow and for granting me with a strong will to persevere to the finish line. I would like to thank my husband, Jonathan W. Hunt, who met me only several weeks into my doctoral program. He supported me, kept me from taking everything too seriously and loved me throughout the craziness of the entire adventure. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Michelle Bourgeois, for taking me on as student with many questions and providing me with the teaching, patience and guidance necessary to mold me into someone who can discover my own answers. I would like to thank Dr. Virginia Richardson for the time she took to work with me individually over the course of my doctoral program and for her encouragement through many frustrations.