Exercises helpful for people with dementia: study

By Shereen Jegtvig NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Regular exercise can help people with dementia think a little more clearly, and care for themselves a bit more, a new study finds. “If the person with dementia is living at home, there are usually exercise programs offered at community day programs for persons with dementia. I would encourage family caregivers to connect with these programs and/or home care to learn about the available resources in their community,” said Dorothy Forbes, an associate professor at the Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta in Edmonton, who led the study. For patients with dementia who can no longer live at home, “Most residential settings should be offering exercise programs for their residents,” Dr. Zaldy Tan, a dementia expert who was not involved in the new study, told Reuters Health.