Dementia patients benefit from holistic exercise program, study shows

May 19, 2014
Science Daily/Elsevier
While dementia patients can often suffer from depression and declining physical and mental ability, exercise has been shown to help improve both their physical and psychological wellbeing. Researchers investigated how combining cognitive activities and elements of yoga, tai chi, qigong and meditation with routine physical exercise affected dementia patients. They found that a holistic exercise program focusing on both mind and body can help improve quality of life for dementia patients.

"When the wellness approach is applied to exercise, holistic exercise strives to encourage individuals not only to take part in the physical activities, but also to become aware of their own physical and psychological states, and to perform exercise that is purposeful and meaningful to them," explained lead investigator Yvonne J-Lyn Khoo, BSc (Hons), MSc, PhD, of the Health and Social Care Institute, Teesside University.

The holistic mind-and-body approach proved to be both enjoyable and helpful for patients suffering from dementia. Not only did they like the sessions, but also showed improvement in memory recall in their anticipation of the physical movements associated with the music.

"Observations at the sixth session showed that even though people with dementia could not remember what had occurred during previous sessions, six people with dementia who participated in the holistic exercise sessions could anticipate the physical movements associated with specific music and three people with dementia were able to remember the sequence of the physical movements," said Dr. Khoo. "This showed potential in maintained procedural memory among people with dementia who attended the holistic exercise sessions."
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/05/140519142604.htm