Group activities benefit those with dementia: research [Video]

Two studies from different continents show the benefits of group activities for people who have dementia.

Symptoms of depression lessened in senior living residents with dementia when they participated in either a high-intensity functional exercise program or a non-exercise group activity, according to a dissertation from a doctoral student at Umeå University in Sweden.

Gustaf Boström, a student in the university’s Department of Community Medicine and Rehabilitation, investigated whether 45 minutes of high-intensity exercise, every other weekday for four months, had a better effect on depressive symptoms than a seated group activity, performed with the same duration and frequency, in older people with dementia.

The exercise program included balance- and leg strengthening exercises that mimicked everyday movements — rising up from a chair, stepping up and down from a step board or walking on a path with obstacles. Participants in the seated group conversed, sang or listened to readings. He found no difference in effect between activities. Both had positive …