Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare > Volume 14, Number 4 > Pp. 215-218

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RESEARCH Original articles

Elderly adults improve verbal fluency by videophone conversations: a pilot study

Hiroko Mochizuki-Kawai ^*  , Mayumi Tanaka , Takaji Suzuki , Yuriko Yamakawa ^**, Satoshi Mochizuki , Masanobu Arai  and Mitsuru Kawamura 

^* National Institute of Floricultural Science, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Tsukuba; Department of Neurology, Showa University School of Medicine, Tokyo; Tokyo College of Welfare, Tokyo; Department of Occupational Therapy, Ibaraki Prefectural University of Health Sciences, Ami; ^** Center for Medical Sciences, Ibaraki Prefectural University of Health Sciences, Ami; Institute of Psychology, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba; Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Ibaraki Prefectural University of Health Sciences Hospital, Ami, Japan

Correspondence: Dr Hiroko Mochizuki-Kawai, National Institute of Floricultural Science, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, 2-1 Fujimoto, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8519, Japan (Fax: +81 29 838 6842; Email: hirokom{at}affrc.go.jp)

We conducted videophone conversations with elderly adults living in a nursing home to discover whether their verbal ability was improved by repeated remote conversations. The control group comprised five elderly adults. The experimental group comprised six elderly adults, including three patients with dementia. They took part in three videophone conversations and their verbal ability was measured before and after the conversations. During the sessions, the participants and volunteers talked about themselves and participated in a quiz. In the experimental group, the mean number of words generated increased from 4.8 to 6.5 after the session (P < 0.05); this increase was not observed in the control group. The experimental group also showed an improvement in words generated after indirect conversations. Videophone conversations appear to have some positive effects on verbal ability and may be beneficial in the cognitive rehabilitation of elderly adults.

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