| Title | The effect of light therapy on symptoms of depression in adults with intellectual disabilities. |
| Purpose | To investigate the effectiveness of light therapy in adults with intellectual disabilities and depressive symptoms. In addition, the effect of light therapy on stress (cortisol) and the sleep-wake rhythm was also examined. The study was completed in November 2020. The dissertation can be found here: RePub, Erasmus University Repository: Shine a Light on Depressive Symptoms in Adults with Intellectual Disabilities: Diagnostics and Non-pharmacological Treatment (eur.nl) |
| Target group | Adults with intellectual disabilities (all levels). |
| Design | Randomised controlled trial (RCT) |
| What does the research involve? | Adults with intellectual disabilities often experience symptoms of depression. The HA-ID 1 study showed that as many as one in 13 elderly people with intellectual disabilities suffer from clinical depression, which is five times the rate found in the general elderly population. Depressive symptoms have a major impact on everyday life as well as the quality of life. Proper treatment is therefore essential. The number of treatments for depressive symptoms for those with moderate, severe or very severe intellectual disabilities is currently very limited. Light therapy is effectively used to reduce depressive symptoms in the general population and it may also be effective in adults with intellectual disabilities. In this study, the effectiveness of light therapy in adults with intellectual disabilities and depressive symptoms was investigated. In addition, the effect of light therapy on stress (cortisol) and the sleep-wake rhythm was also examined. The study showed that light therapy can be a promising treatment for adults with intellectual disabilities and depressive symptoms. |
| Duration | Started recruiting participants in May 2015 Data collection: May 2015 – December 2017 Processing and analysis of collected data: January 2018 – July 2019 Doctoral defense: November 2020 |
| Parties involved | The light therapy study was conducted within the three HA-ID care organizations at the Academic Collaboration Center (Abrona, Amarant, and Ipse de Bruggen). Pauline Hamers was involved in this study as a PhD candidate. Dr. Heidi Hermans and Dr. Dederieke Festen were the co-supervisors. Prof. Patrick Bindels was the supervisor. |
| Implementation | On completion of the study, a handbook was written on the use of light therapy in adults with intellectual disabilities and symptoms of depression. This can be found here: 20210906-handreiking-lichttherapie.pdf (amarant.nl) An explanatory note was also provided for the client: informatie-voor-clienten-over-licht-therapie.pdf (amarant.nl) |
