Studer-Luethi Barbara, Brasser Maria, Lusti Simon, Schaerli Rahel
University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
Arch Public Health. 2021 Sep 16;79(1):165. doi: 10.1186/s13690-021-00670-9.
In recent decades, the proportion of older adults in the population has continued to rise, and with it, the need for intervention programs to maintain cognitive functions into old age. Multiple lifestyle factors, including physical, cognitive, and social activities, are crucial to forestalling a decline in cognitive functions. However, Covid-19 curtailed most activities, and therefore, strategies are needed to support older adults in remaining cognitively healthy. This study describes a newly developed and publicly available multimodal program, called "brain coach", to support and stimulate cognitive activity in older adults. The autonomy supportive program integrates into daily life recommendations for evidence-based physical, cognitive, social, mindful, and creative activation exercises.
The study design corresponds to a correlational, analytical, and cross-sectional study with 660 older adults, who participated in the program for at least 3 months and completed an online survey.
The survey results demonstrate that the average age of the participants was 71 years and 75 % were female. Participants experienced benefits in memory, well-being, attitudes towards the brain, and lifestyle habits. Importantly, time invested in the intervention and participant's positive attitude toward brain health and neuroplasticity, show positive relationships with the experienced benefits.
The results reveal the potential of a public program with a multimodal approach to increase cognitive health and promote an active lifestyle. Further research will explore the effects of such a multimodal intervention in a longitudinal randomized controlled trial study.
近几十年来，老年人口在总人口中的比例持续上升，因此，需要有干预计划来维持老年人的认知功能。包括身体、认知和社交活动在内的多种生活方式因素对于预防认知功能下降至关重要。然而，新冠疫情限制了大多数活动，因此，需要制定策略来支持老年人保持认知健康。本研究描述了一种新开发的、公开可用的多模式项目，名为“大脑教练”，以支持和刺激老年人的认知活动。该自主性支持项目将基于证据的身体、认知、社交、正念和创造性激活练习的日常生活建议整合其中。
本研究设计为一项相关性、分析性横断面研究，有660名老年人参与，他们参加该项目至少3个月并完成了一项在线调查。
调查结果显示，参与者的平均年龄为71岁，75%为女性。参与者在记忆、幸福感、对大脑的态度和生活方式习惯方面都有所受益。重要的是，投入干预的时间以及参与者对大脑健康和神经可塑性的积极态度与所体验到的益处呈正相关。
结果揭示了一个采用多模式方法的公共项目在提高认知健康和促进积极生活方式方面的潜力。进一步的研究将在纵向随机对照试验研究中探索这种多模式干预的效果。
