A Community-based Physical Exercise Program to Improve Cognitive, Behavioural and Physical Functioning in People with Mild to Moderate Alzheimer’s Disease ($28,905)
This Grant was awarded to Dr Anthea Vreugdenhill.
Regular exercise has been shown to be beneficial in the treatment of heart disease and diabetes and there is now growing evidence that exercise may also be effective in the treatment of dementia, helping to improve memory, behaviour and functional fitness. In this study an exercise program for people with dementia was trialled with patients from the Memory Disorders Clinical at the Launceston General Hospital. The community based program involved daily at home exercises, supported by weekly group exercise sessions. The research was undertaken in collaboration with the School of Human Life Sciences at the University of Tasmania.
The pilot study involved 11 patients with dementia and their spouses and demonstrated that the exercise program is both feasible and safe for people with dementia. In addition to achieving the aims of the study, we were delighted to find that carers were also participating in the exercise program, important as poor health and depression are often issues for carers of people with dementia. Many carers also commented on how much they enjoyed doing something positive with their spouse.
The study was an important first step in developing and testing an exercise program to help people with dementia. A larger trial of 60 people is now underway to assess the impact of the community-based exercise program on memory and physical functioning and behavioural and sleep problems in people with dementia.
Tasmania's Clifford Craig Medical Research Trust was established in 1991.