Michelle C. Carlson|Jane S. Saczynski|George W. Rebok|Teresa E. Seeman|Thomas A. Glass|Sylvia McGill|James M. Tielsch|Kevin D. Frick|Joel Hill|Linda P. Fried
Exploring the Effects of an “Everyday” Activity Program on Executive Function and Memory in Older Adults: Experience Corps®
Johns Hopkins University
little empirical translation multimodal cognitive activity programs realworld communitybased settings study sought demonstrate shortterm pilot randomized trial activity program improves components cognition critical independent function among sedentary older adults greatest riskwe randomized 149 older adults experience corps ec waitlist control arm participants randomized ec trained teams help elementary school children reading achievement library support classroom behavior 15 hrweek academic year compared baseline followup assessments memory executive function ef psychomotor speed 4 8 months intervention arm adjusting exposure duration observed range ef abilities baseline stratified analyses according presence baseline impairment using established normsoverall ec participants tended show improvements ef memory relative matched controls ps 10 ec participants impaired baseline ef showed greatest improvements 44 51 ef memory followup compared declines among impairedef controls ps 05shortterm participation communitybased program designed increase cognitive physical activity social realworld setting may train memory particularly executive functions important functional independence communitybased program represents one potentially effective model bring high doses sustainable cognitive exercise greatest proportion older adults particularly sedentary individuals elevated risk health disparities