California Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer BlogAs older adults continue to age, they become more vulnerable not only to diseases and disability, but also to cognitive frailty. Cognitive frailty is defined as the simultaneous development of physical frailty and cognitive impairment. An older adult who experiences late-life depression can be susceptible to both physical frailty and cognitive impairment, especially speed of processing and executive functioning.
Articles Posted in Cognitive Issues
Music and Singing Can Benefit Patients with Dementia
Although dementia is prevalent among the older adult population, a recent study has found that singing or listening to music can be beneficial to older adults with this cognitive disease. Many older adults that live in assisted living facilities and nursing homes suffer from dementia. The illness not only affects cognitive abilities, but also mood and behavior. According to a new study conducted at the University of Helsinki, Finland and published In the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, the use of music can improve dementia care for patients in different stages of the disease.
Older Adults Can Improve Memory Simply by Taking More Steps
It is well known that maintaining a physically active lifestyle is beneficial to health, but new research shows a further advantage—older adults who walk or jog more often perform better on memory tasks than their sedentary counterparts. The study, published in the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, implied that physical activity could prevent age-related memory decline and neurodegenerative dementias like Alzheimer’s disease.
New Research Shows Association Between Walking Speed and Risk of Alzheimer’s disease
A recent study published in Neurology has shown that walking speed of older adults can be indicative of their risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers hypothesized that slow walking speed may be associated with plaque buildup in the brain, even if an older adult does not show external symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.
Stereotypes About Aging Can Negatively Affect Older Adults’ Performances on Cognitive and Functional Abilities
Hearing and memory are both critical aspects of older adults’ daily communication and social interactions. A deeper understanding about how aging affects performance in these areas calls for an exploration of. A recent study conducted at the University of Toronto and published in the journal Psychology and Aging, explored the relationships between perceptions of aging, self-perceived abilities, and performance on tasks involving memory and hearing. The associations between these social variables had previously never been studied before among the older adult population. The study found that when older adults possess negative perceptions about aging, their confidence in their abilities to hear and remember things may diminish, resulting in poor performance at both.
Risk Factors that Increase the Risk of Disability in Older Adults
Disability not only is associated with major adverse health outcomes, it makes an older adult require support due to challenges or dependency in performing activities essential to maintaining an independent lifestyle. The proportion of disabled older adults is a critical determinant of a society’s capability to overcome the problems of population aging. Dementia is often prevalent among older adults with disability and causes severe impairment. Critical risk factors that are association with disability are cognitive impairment and losses in mobility. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a potential risk for disability. The co-occurrence of slow walking speed and MCI may heighten this risk.
Reminiscence Therapy Has the Potential to Improve Cognitive Impairment and Depressive Symptoms in Older Adults with Dementia
Many older adults with dementia suffer from cognitive impairments and experience depressive symptoms. These symptoms have the potential to reduce physical activities and mental wellbeing, impair social or occupational abilities, and debilitate health-related quality of life. Moreover, research has shown that depressive symptoms are significantly related to aggravated psychological functions in older adults with dementia. Thus, creating effective strategies to enhance their cognitive abilities and mitigate depressive symptoms are necessary. Reminiscence therapy, which calls for vocal or silent recall of past experiences, activities, and events in a person’s life by utilizing tangible prompts, has shown to be an effective intervention in the enhancement of psychological abilities and reduction of depressive symptoms in older adults with dementia.
Physical Exercise Significantly Benefits Nursing Home Residents with Dementia
Dementia is prevalent in the ever-growing aging population. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia. Although it is well known that physical exercise can enhance the well being of older adults by improving mobility, physical function, cognition and mood, and preventing falls, not much research has been done exploring the effects of physical exercise on individuals with dementia residing in various settings. Recently, researchers sought to explore this phenomenon, as well as find out what types of physical exercise produced the best results.
Nursing Home Residents with Dementia Need More Vigilant Care
It is well known that the aging population is on a continuous rise with people living longer than ever before due to the increase in more chronic conditions, such as cancer and dementia. The progression of these conditions increase the need for more care and heighten the chance for more nursing care problems, such as malnutrition, due to degenerative physical, social, and cognitive functions. Patients who suffer from dementia, especially, may be affected in the early stages of their illness.
Physical Exercise Can Enhance Mental and Physical Functioning in Nursing Home Residents with Dementia
It is well known that the older population is increasing worldwide and that Alzheimer’s disease is one of the leading forms of dementia experienced by older adults. It has also been well established that physical exercise enhances health and well-being in older adults by improving mobility, physical and cognitive function, mood, and preventing falls. 30% of older adults with dementia reside in nursing homes due to the debilitating effects and loss of independence related to the cognitive disease. The types of physical exercise that are most appropriate for this vulnerable population are important to know to ensure that the physical therapy they are receiving is evidence-based and engages the individuals with dementia both physically and cognitively.
