Felten, Kristen, Duschene, Kathie, MacFarlane, Dana, Price, Susan, Zimmerman, Suanne, Hafez, Stephanie, La Rue, Asenath

Interventions that stimulate and engage individuals with dementia physically, cognitively, and socially offer promise for improving health and well-being and for potentially slowing functional losses with disease progression. We describe a volunteer-based intervention that combines physical exercise, cognitive-linguistic stimulation, and social outings for older persons living with dementia in rural communities. One-year follow-up data, although […]

Kuo, Li-Min, Huang, Huei-Ling, Huang, Hsiu-Li, Liang, Jersey, Chiu, Yi-Chen, Chen, Sien-Tsong, Kwok, Yam-Ting, Hsu, Wen-Chuin, Shyu, Yea-Ing L.

Objectives: Little is known about the longitudinal effects of training programs on family caregivers’ health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and depressive symptoms over time. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a home-based caregiver training program on HRQoL and depressive symptoms for family caregivers of older persons with dementia.; Methods: […]

Gustafsdottir, M.

Background: Health promotion practices hold promises for elderly individuals’ quality of life. This article shows that such practices can be promoted in specialized day care units for individuals with dementia.; Method: Group interviews with 8 groups of staff (comprising 24 staff members) in 3 day care units.; Results: Rather than referring directly to health promotion […]

Duru, O. Kenrik, Ettner, Susan L., Vassar, Stefanie D., Chodosh, Joshua, Vickrey, Barbara G.

Objective: To calculate intervention costs and the potential cost offset of a care management intervention that substantially improved the quality of dementia care.; Study Design: From both a payer perspective and a social planner perspective, we analyzed data from a cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluating this intervention versus usual care. The RCT included 408 […]

Cettomai, Deanna, Kwasa, Judith, Birbeck, Gretchen L., Price, Richard W., Bukusi, Elizabeth A., Meyer, Ana-Claire

Background: Recent efforts to improve neurological care in resource-limited settings have focused on providing training to non-physician healthcare workers.; Methods: A one-day neuro-HIV training module emphasizing HIV-associated dementia (HAD) and peripheral neuropathy was provided to 71 health care workers in western Kenya. Pre- and post-tests were administered to 55 participants.; Results: Mean age of participants […]

Carlson, M. C., Erickson, K. I., Kramer, A. F., Voss, M. W., Bolea, N., Mielke, M., McGill, S., Rebok, G. W., Seeman, T., Fried, L. P.

Objective: To determine whether Experience Corps (EC), a social service program, would improve age-vulnerable executive functions and increase activity in brain regions in a high-risk group through increased cognitive and physical activity.; Methods: Eight community-dwelling, older female volunteers and nine matched wait-list controls were recruited to serve in the ongoing EC: Baltimore program in three […]

Buettner, Linda L., Fitzsimmons, Suzanne

This project tested a 12-week health promotion course for older adults with early-stage dementia. In a quasi-experimental design, participants were assigned by site to intervention group or control group and evaluated at two time points. Mini-Mental State Examination scores, Geriatric Depression Scale scores, health behaviors, plus several measures of psychological well-being were used in this […]