About the feature picture — Mind Science Centre 2 year study on Choral Singing Intervention compared to Health Education programme on dementia prevention was conducted from 2018 to 2020. There is evidence that choral singing reduces onset of dementia. “The beneficial effet is at least comparable to that of health education in preventing cognitive decline in a community of elderly people”. (Feng and others,2020).[1]
1-Cognitive stimulating activities (CSAs) reduce dementia.
Cognitive stimulating activities (CSAs) are activities that are able to result in meaningful and stimulating mental experiences in participants. There are many such activities and they are able to delay dementia and also benefit people with dementia: Some examples are:
- Discussion of past and present events and topics of interest
- Telling stories
- Word games
- Puzzles
- Music reminiscence, music creation
- Art therapy
- Singing
- Dancing
- Horticulture.
- Health education
- Meridian flapping exercise
- Mindfulness therapy.
2-Community dementia prevention programme
A 10-year study on dementia prevention that was based on a community based programme found that dementia prevalence rate rose less than expected and the prevalence of depression fell. This study was started in 2011 in Jurong and called the Jurong Ageing Study. When the study started, at baseline, nearly 2 percent of the cohort of 1,107 seniors had dementia and 7.3 percent had depression (Joyce Teo, 2023). [2]
After 5 years, it was found that those who participated in group activites namely, Health Educaation Program (HEP), Music and Reminisence Therapy (MRT), Mindful Awareness Practice (MAP), Horticulture Therapy, and Art Therapy, had better overall mood and cognition. The prevalence rate for dementia rose by just 1 percentage point to 3 per cent, which was lower than the 6 percent it was expected to be, based on the overall trend in Singapore. The prevalence rate of depression dropped to 5 percent.
The Community dementia prevention programme is now known as the Age Well Everyday (AWE) Programme since 2016. The programme is available in 10 centres around Singapore.
3-Choral singing
The Choral singing intervention programme study was a 2 year study conducted from 2018 to 2020. There is evidence that choral singing reduces the onset of dementia (Feng et al, 2020). [1]
4-Dancing
Dancing has also been found to reduce dementia. There are different forms of dance that are popular in various countries e.g. line dancing in the US, square dancing in the United Kingdom and in our local community in Singapore, the cha-cha is a dance form that we are familiar with.
Two Senior Volunteers from RSVP — the Organisation of Senior Volunteers — in their 60s. Ms Ong Shi Chi and Ms Kendra Ong perform the cha-cha for us to the lyrics of an old Chinese love song. We thank the two Senior Volunteers for their contribution.
5- Take Home Messages
Cognitive stimulating activities (CSAs) are important to keep dementia at bay as we age. They consist of a wide range of activities. The programmes conducted by the Mind Science Centre, RSVP, and other AWE centers are worth joining.
6-Acknowledgments
Thanks are due to
- 1-Professor Tsakok and her team of Mind Science Centre choral singers for the feature picture, and
- 2-Ms Genevieve Chua for organising the cha-cha clip and enlisting the participation of the two Senior Volunteers of RSVP, Ms Ong Shi Chi, and Ms Kendra Ong. Thanks once again to all three.
7-References
- 1-Feng L, Romero-Garcia R, Suckling J, Tan J, Larbi A, Cheah I, Wong G, Tsakok M, Lanskey B, Lim D, Li J, Yang J, Goh B, Teck TGC, Ho A, Wang X, Yu JT, Zhang C, Tan C, Chua M, Li J, Totman JJ, Wong C, Loh M, Foo R, Tan CH, Goh LG, Mahendran R, Kennedy BK, Kua EH. Effects of choral singing versus health education on cognitive decline and aging: a randomized controlled trial. Aging (Albany NY). 2020 Dec 18;12(24):24798-24816. PMID: 33346748. doi: 10.18632/aging.202374
- 2- Joyce Teo. Group activities can lower prevalence of dementia, depression among seniors: Study. Straits Times May 3 2023. URL: http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/group-activities-can-lower-prevalence-of-dementia-depression-among-seniors-study Accessed: 2023 May 13.
Dr LG Goh
Dr GOH Lee Gan is a retired Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine, National University Health System. He has an interest in learning and teaching how we can age well everyday (AWE).
