WELCOME MESSAGE

Dear New/existing CMHSIG Member(s):

Welcome to the APTA Geriatrics Cognitive and Mental Health Special Interest Group (CMHSIG)! The purpose of the CMHSIG is to provide a forum through which individuals having a common interest in older adults with dementia and other cognitive-based conditions and mental health issues can learn from each other.

I am extremely excited to take the lead over the CMHSIG and amp up the excitement about cognitive and mental health. I think following COVID-19, all of us, including our patients and caregivers need to focus on cognitive and mental health as it has taken a toll on everyone personally or professionally. I think with the changes in healthcare due to COVID-19 and changes in the way our society operates, cognitive and mental health needs to be put at the forefront and focused on especially with our geriatric population. You can think of it as a call to action on behalf of our patients!

My goal is to rejuvenate this SIG and place a fresh perspective on the direction this SIG is to go. I would like to recruit more members into the SIG, allow members place to share ideas amongst each other and encourage volunteerism.

If you are interested in volunteering in this SIG whether it be for a task force or helping with journal club, etc. please let me know. If you do decide to volunteer, you will be met with a great amount of support and opportunities for growth professionally.

I have an open-door policy. Please email me at alexpiersanti52209@gmail.com with any questions and/or concerns you have or any ideas for projects/activities. This is a SIG for everyone, so feedback is greatly appreciated!

I look forward to your participation in the CMHSIG!

Sincerely,

Alex Alexander, PT, DPT, GCS
CMH SIG Chair

Research Resources from CMH

Thank you for visiting the research portion of the CMH SIG website!

As the research liaisons, one of our goals is to meet the needs of the members by providing research that would be of interest to you. Please send suggestions regarding topics of interest to the SIG listserv and we will be happy to search for and hopefully find literature about that topic.

Here are some articles that we find interesting and helpful in our understanding of clinical practice in the area of Cognitive and Mental Health.

• Toots, A., et al. “Effects of a High-Intensity Functional Exercise Program on Dependence in Activities of Daily Living and Balance in Older Adults with Dementia.” Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 64.1 (2016): 55-64
• Hamers, Jan PH, et al. “Behind Closed Doors: Involuntary Treatment in Care of Persons with Cognitive Impairment at Home in the Netherlands.” Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (2016).
• Pieper, Marjoleine JC, et al. “Effects of a Stepwise Multidisciplinary Intervention for Challenging Behavior in Advanced Dementia: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.” Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (2016).
• Kirk-Sanchez, Neva J., and Ellen L. McGough. “Physical exercise and cognitive performance in the elderly: current perspectives.” Clinical interventions in aging 9 (2014): 51.
• Suttanon, Plaiwan, et al. “Feasibility, safety and preliminary evidence of the effectiveness of a home-based exercise programme for older people with Alzheimer’s disease: a pilot randomized controlled trial.” Clinical rehabilitation 27.5 (2013): 427-438.
• Lowery, David, et al. “The effect of exercise on behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia: the EVIDEMâ€�E randomised controlled clinical trial.” International journal of geriatric psychiatry (2013)
  Yao, Lan, et al. “Fall risk-relevant functional mobility outcomes in dementia following dyadic Tai Chi exercise.” Western journal of nursing research 35.3 (2013): 281-296
• Detweiler, Mark B., Kye Y. Kim, and Brenda Y. Taylor. “Focused supervision of high-risk fall dementai patients: a simple method to reduce fall incidence and severity.” American journal of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias 20.2 (2005): 97-104.

May 2016 Cognitive and Mental Health Recent Research

• Exercise improves physical and psychological quality of life in people with depression: A meta-analysis including the evaluation of control group response
• Person-Centered Care for Older Adults With Serious Mental Illness and Substance Misuse Within a Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly
• Cognitively Stimulating Leisure Activity and Subsequent Cognitive Function: A SHARE-based Analysis
• Unconscious Bias
• Family members’ narratives of lifespace: Mapping changes before and after a brain injury causing driving disruption
• Positive affect and mortality risk in older adults: A meta-analysis
• Exercise improves physical and psychological quality of life in people with depression: A meta-analysis including the evaluation of control group response
• Thinking about a limited future enhances the positivity of younger and older adults’ recall: Support for socioemotional selectivity theory
• Statins for the treatment of depression: a meta-analysis of randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials
• Nutrition and risk of dementia: overview and methodological issues

SIG Links of Interest

• Brain Health Flier
• Cognitive Health Flier
• What is Alzheimer’s
• Person-Centered Matters: Making Life Better for Someone Living with Dementia 
• Family Caregiver Alliance
• Alzheimer’s Association
•  American Delirium Society
• Vanderbilt ICU Delirium and Cognitive Impairment Study Group
• The Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP)
• CMS Partnership to Improve Dementia Care in Nursing Homes
• http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/delirium/basics/symptoms/con-20033982
• http://www.rehabmeasures.org/Lists/RehabMeasures/PrintView.aspx?ID=1151
• Cognitive Assessment Toolkit, Alzheimer’s Association
• MyBrainTest, Cognitive Health Assessments, Brain Health Screening Tests
• Montreal Cognitive Assessment