Researchers have identified that people with dementia may experience related social cognition deficits that could make it harder for them to socialise and relate to other people.
Approximately one in three people with mild to moderate dementia experience feelings of loneliness.
The recently published study was conducted by researchers at the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, a research institution located at the University of Sydney.
Researchers found that while people with mild cognitive impairment and people with dementia experienced difficulties with social cognition, obvious differences were observed.
People with dementia were better at recognising facial expressions of anger, disgust and happiness, but received lower scores for empathy and mentalising, i.e. interpreting behaviour and associated feelings and thoughts of others.
The lead author of the study, Dr Russell Chander, highlighted the importance of social cognition and how it may be impaired in people with dementia.
“Because social cognition involves such things as the ability to read social cues, process thoughts and intentions of other people and have the capacity to demonstrate empathy, it is an important factor in Alzheimer’s disease as well as certain types of dementias, particularly frontotemporal dementia,” he said.
“This evidence suggests that the dementia process is associated with impaired social skills, which can start early and are imperceptible before growing more noticeable by others as the cognitive ability worsens.”
Seventy percent of people with dementia are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of the condition.
In Australian aged care facilities, more than half of residents have some form of dementia, according to recent data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Dr Chander highlighted that knowing more about a person’s social cognition could help carers and aged care workers identify signs before cognitive issues worsen.
“Expanding our work in how social skills relate to ageing lifestyles and brain health can help us to identify more of these early and subtle changes that signal the beginnings of cognitive decline,” he said.
“This can also help us understand how to help people living with dementia to continue to be socially active members of their communities, as well as lead us to facilitate targeted interventions for people with mild cognitive impairment and dementia.”
Improving and understanding a person’s social ability could help reduce the incidence of loneliness. Research suggests that social isolation can have a ‘serious impact on physical and mental health, quality of life and longevity.’
Approximately 411,000 Australians were estimated to be living with dementia in 2023 and this number is expected to double over the next 34 years.
Professor Perminder Sachdev, co-director of CHeBa, emphasised that although further research is required to develop our society’s understanding of dementia and social cognition, including people with dementia in activities and interactions is important.
“Future work should identify if there are specific features of social cognitive subdomains that are more sensitive to earlier neurocognitive changes,” he said.
“Developing interventions to prevent or reduce the impact of these deficits in social interactions is important to help people with cognitive problems to continue to engage in society and to reduce the burden on carers of people with dementia.”
While some people with dementia may struggle with aspects of social communication, aged care workers should continue to plan activities that create a sense of community within the aged care home.
Dementia Australia suggests that activities such as painting, playing music, visiting a garden or going for a walk are good ways for people with dementia to engage in conversation without causing excessive confusion.
Aged care workers can also view Dementia Australia’s free webinar in which creative engagement specialists discuss ways to incorporate creativity into the lives of people with dementia.
Additionally, the University of Tasmania has released free online modules for aged care workers that are suitable for people new to the aged care sector and for current aged care workers to use as refresher courses to better support people with dementia.
