Background:

Alzheimer's disease has become the great epidemic of the 21st century, being a challenge for the sustainability of the social and health system. Alzheimer's causes disability and dependency among the elderly, requiring continued care with therapies that improve the health and quality of life of these people. The objective of this paper was to evaluate the effectiveness of non-pharmacological therapies applied to people with Alzheimer's in Primary Care.

Methods:

A systematic review of articles published between April 2017 and April 2022 was carried out, applying the PRISMA methodology. The databases consulted were: PubMed, CINAHL, Dialnet, Web of Science and PsycINFO. MeSH and DeSH were used, with the Boolean operators AND and OR. The quality of the articles was evaluated with the STROBE, COCHRANE, AMSTAR-2 and JBI scales.

Results:

A total of nineteen articles were selected in which various non-pharmacological therapies and their effectiveness in people with Alzheimer's were evaluated. Therapies based on physical activity and rehabilitation, cognitive stimulation and occupational therapy with music, animals and art, applied and maintained over time, are an alternative which, either combined or applied in isolation, are effective in preventing, stopping and slowing down Alzheimer's disease symptoms, especially in the first phase.

Conclusions:

Physical activity and rehabilitation, cognitive stimulation and therapy with music, animals and art, improve the health status and quality of life of patients with Alzheimer's disease in the first phase of the disease.

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