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Agitation behaviors in persons with dementia are a major problem for caregivers. Hall and Buckwalter (1987) hypothesized that an increase in agitation behaviors occur when persons experience high levels of stress, The purpose of this pilot study was to explore the efficacy of hand massage, therapeutic touch, and presence (control group) in producing relaxation and decreasing agitation behaviors in persons with dementia. An experimental crossover design was used to study the effects of these interventions in 17 residents on one AlzheimeKs Care Unit. Hand massage and therapeutic touch were administered once a day in late afternoon for 10 days while presence was administered for 5 days. Five days of observation were done before and after the administration of each intervention. Significant differences were found in the level of relaxation from pre- to post- intervention with the use of hand massage and therapeutic touch. However, no decrease in agitation behaviors was observed.
Snyder et al. (Sat,) studied this question.