Body & brain project : experience report of the pilot intervention

BACKGROUND: Dementia is one of the main age-related health problems affecting society nowadays (World Health Organization, 2017). This fact is concerning several institutions like the European Commission that recognizes and alerts countries for the need to develop and implement national intervention plans against Dementia (Rosow et al., 2011). In addition, evidence has shown that physical exercise is capable of increasing brain flow and perfusion, with possible impact on brain structure and cognition in older adults with Dementia (Cotman, Berchtold, & Christie, 2007). Which in turn might lead to a slower progression of the disease. In this context, The Body & Brain Project was conceived to study the effect of a multicomponent exercise intervention on physical and cognitive functions of older adults with dementia. Aiming to evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation of the Body & Brain Project, the first phase of the project was assessed, involving 46 elders in 5 different class settings. METHODS: The experience report concerning the process of the implementation of the Body & Brain Project was based on both qualitative and quantitative data. A survey was conducted with 60% of the participants, trainers (implementers) and project leaders were interviewed and finally all class settings were observed during the exercise sessions. RESULTS: The heterogeneity of the participants required constant adaptations in the exercise sessions and could lead to some of the participants not reaching their full potential during the exercises. The heterogeneity of the different settings was another limitation observed. Trainers must be highly motivated to work with the elderly with dementia, as well as sufficiently knowledgeable about the physiopathology, symptoms and effective strategies to communicate with this specific population. Generally, the participants were very satisfied with the physical exercise sessions and its format (multicomponent) as well as with the trainers. CONCLUSION: Dementia is a very complex syndrome and implementing an exercise program for this group appears to be especially challenging. It is therefore important for trainers to be well prepared, motivated, knowledgeable and extremely flexible. Classes should include a standard U+201Ckit of materialsU+201D and not exceed a maximum of 12 participants. All of this to adapt to the heterogeneity of the group and to achieve the full potential of each participant more easily during the exercise sessions. This will eventually lead to a more effective implementation of the Body & Brain Project.

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