How Private Duty Caregivers Can Help Lessen Clients' Dementia Risk

Guiding older adults away from the TV and toward brain-engaging and physical activities decreases the risk of dementia.

Private duty workers and other care companions who engage their older clients in social activities are helping to fend off dementia.

That’s because helping adults aged 60 and older avoid passive, sedentary behavior, such as long periods of television-watching, decreases the risk of dementia, a new study says.

The risk is lower for those who are mentally active while sitting, such as when they use a computer or read, says the study by the University of Southern California (USC) and University of Arizona researchers.

“It isn’t the time spent sitting, per se, but the type of sedentary activity performed during leisure time that impacts dementia risk,” said study author David Raichlen, professor of biological sciences and anthropology at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.

“We know from past studies that watching TV involves low levels of muscle activity and energy use compared with using a computer or reading," he said. "And while research has shown that uninterrupted sitting for long periods is linked with reduced blood flow in the brain, the relatively greater intellectual stimulation that occurs during computer use may counteract the negative effects of sitting.”

Cognitive training and physical activity are key

Caregivers can benefit their clients by using cognitive training, which some evidence suggests can delay or slow age-related cognitive decline, and appropriate increased physical activity, according to a 2017 study, Preventing Cognitive Decline and Dementia: A Way Forward by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Cognitively stimulating activities could include increasing proficiency in daily activities, playing cards, doing crossword puzzles, or learning a new language, the National Academies study says.

Increased physical activity has been recognized as benefiting both physical and cognitive function, and can include walking, dancing, resistance training, stretching yoga, the National Academies study says.

In 2011, more than 1 million cases of Alzheimer’s disease could be attributed to physical inactivity and a 25% reduction in physical inactivity could potentially have prevented about 230,000 cases in the United States, the 2017 study says.

Countering the effects

For this new study, more than 145,000 participants aged 60 and older—all of whom did not have a diagnosis of dementia at the start of the project—self-reported their levels of sedentary behavior during the 2006-2010 baseline examination period.

After an average of nearly 12 years of follow-up, the researchers used hospital inpatient records to determine dementia diagnosis, finding 3,507 positive cases.

“Although we know that physical activity is good for our brain health, many of us think that if we are just more physically active during the day, we can counter the negative effects of time spent sitting,” said study author Gene Alexander, professor of Psychology and Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute at the University of Arizona.

“Our findings suggest that the brain impacts of sitting during our leisure activities are really separate from how physically active we are,” said Alexander, “and that being more mentally active, like when using computers, may be a key way to help counter the increased risk of dementia related to more passive sedentary behaviors, like watching TV.”