Enhancing Cognitive Fitness in Adults: A Guide to the Use and Development of Community-Based Programs

Enhancing Cognitive Fitness in Adults

A Guide for Use and Development of Community-Based Programs

Paula E. Hartman-Stein and Asenath La Rue, editors

One of the major milestones of aging research is the concept that dementia is not a one-cause, one-effect disorder. From this realization, scores of research-based cognitive wellness programs have been established alongside traditional medical interventions to help older adults deal with memory decline, cognitive deficits,and other signs of brain aging.

Enhancing Cognitive Fitness in Adults takes a wellness-support rather than a disease-based approach to its subject, presenting a wide range of promising interventions among the diversity that is currently being offered, from intergenerational volunteer programs, writing workshops, and multimedia strategies to meditation,biofeedback, nutrition, and exercise. Introductory chapters discuss the findings driving the cognitive-wellness movement, and the possible roles such programs may have in preserving critical brain resources, increasing cognitive flexibility, and avoiding devastating brain decline for improved quality of life in older adults. Areas of coverage include:

• Research bases for cognitive wellness interventions.
• Social programs designed to improve and sustain cognitive function.
• Enhancing cognition through the arts and cultural activities.
• Cognitive wellness interventions for adults with memory impairment.
• Community-based programs with positive societal impact.

A cogent survey of a growing field, Enhancing Cognitive Fitness in Adults is a timely resource for professionals working toward this crucial goal,including clinical, health, and neuropsychologists, primary care physicians(e.g., geriatricians, internists, family physicians), and clinical social workers.