團體芳香療法改善失智症主要照顧者身心健康之成效

The Effects on Physical and Mental Health of Group Aromatherapy Among Caregivers of Persons with Dementia

失智病患之主要照顧者易有焦慮、憂鬱等心理問題。本研究旨在探討團體芳香療法介入後是否能降低照顧者心理焦慮、憂鬱情形；並藉由心率變異度量測檢驗對自律神經調控之生理成效。本研究採類實驗性研究，以立意取樣召募日間照顧中心失智症主要照顧者18名（實驗組8名、對照組10名）。實驗組與對照組皆進行每週1次、每次1小時、為期6週的團體輔助性療法，實驗組有添加芳香精油，對照組則無。測量工具為貝克焦慮量表、流行病學研究中心憂鬱量表及美國航空太空總署作業負荷指標法量表。實驗組與對照組以輔助性療法介入後之組內前後測改變量比較顯示在心理之焦慮（p值分別是0.018、0.028）、憂鬱（p值分別是0.027、0.005）、心智負荷（p值分別是0.012、0.005）等皆有顯著改善；且兩組介入後焦慮及憂鬱狀態之組間前後測改變量皆達統計上顯著差異（p值分別是0.007、0.033）。因此，本研究建議芳香療法可作為未來失智症照顧者的日常舒壓及維持身、心、靈健康之參考。

Family caregivers of persons with dementia (PwD) often suffer from persistent pressure which can lead to mental health problems such as anxiety and depressive symptoms. The purpose of this study was to explore whether group aromatherapy could improve anxiety and depressive symptoms, and also to promote the regulation of autonomic nervous system through the measurement of heart rate variability among family caregivers of PwD. A quasi-experimental design was utilized. Two day care centers with similar size and attributes, that hold group activities for family caregivers. Eighteen family caregivers of PwD who met the inclusion criteria were recruited, 8 participants were allocated to experimental group and 10 were in control group. The experimental group participated in one-hour aromatherapy per week with sniffing aromatic essential oils for 6 weeks, while the control group received the same complementary therapy without the additional aromatic essential oils. The Beck Anxiety Inventory, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale, and the National Aeronautics Space Administration task load index scale were adopted to measure mental health problems and to test the heart rate variability to the regulation of autonomic nervous system. Results indicated several significant within groups improvements in anxiety (p = 0.006 and p = 0.028, intervention group and control group respectively), depressive symptoms (p = 0.027 and p = 0.005, intervention group and control group respectively), and subjective mental workload (p = 0.012 and p = 0.005, intervention group and control group respectively) in both groups after intervention. Moreover, significant differences between groups were found in anxiety and depressive symptoms (p= 0.007, 0.033, respectively). Our findings suggest that group aromatherapy can be implemented for the purpose of reliving pressure and maintaining psychological and mental health in family caregivers of PwD.