Simulated presence therapy is an emotion-oriented non pharmacological intervention for people with dementia

Dementia

Dementia is a serious loss of cognitive ability in a previously unimpaired person, beyond what might be expected from normal aging...

. It is based in psychological attachment theories

Attachment theory

Attachment theory describes the dynamics of long-term relationships between humans. Its most important tenet is that an infant needs to develop a relationship with at least one primary caregiver for social and emotional development to occur normally. Attachment theory is an interdisciplinary study...

and is normally carried out playing a recording with voices of the closests relatives of the patient. There are preliminary evidences indicating that SPT may reduce anxiety and challenging behaviors.