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Abstract
Background: Semantic dementia is a rarer dementia, classified as a type of frontotemporal dementia and a variant of primary progressive aphasia. Studies examining conversation in this condition and interventions to enhance participation in family life present as gaps in the research literature.
Methods: Working with one family on a longitudinal basis, this study used conversation analysis and narrative analysis to provide a detailed assessment of communication . This information was used to design an individually tailored life story intervention to facilitate family interaction: a co-produced life story music DVD.
Results: This intervention offered the family a resource that allowed the person with semantic dementia to display areas of retained competence and enhanced participation in interaction in a way that was not typically present in everyday conversation.
Conclusions: It is argued that fostering greater opportunities for such in-the-moment connections is an important goal for intervention, particularly when language may be significantly compromised.