Ask Alex: What is Cognitive Stimulation Therapy

Dr. Alex Bahar-Fuchs is NewDays' Director of Neuropsychology and a leading expert in cognitive interventions for older adults.

Question:

I see on your website that some of the conversations with the NewDays AI are considered "cognitive stimulation". What is that?

Answer by Dr. Alex:

What is cognitive stimulation therapy?

We use the term cognitive stimulation to refer to a wide range of activities that engage our minds in some way, and this could range from the type of stimulation that some people get from the type of work they do to the many other activities that we engage in in the course of our everyday lives, like reading, watching documentaries, playing certain games, engaging in stimulating discussions, to name just a few.

When engaging in cognitively stimulating activities in everyday life, we typically are not consciously trying to improve a specific cognitive thinking skill such as attention or memory, and we instead generally stimulate a mix of thinking processes.

In the context of aging and dementia, however, a more structured program known as cognitive stimulation therapy has been shown to have a range of positive effects on thinking and well-being among people living with dementia.

The program initially developed by researchers from the UK involving 14 sessions usually in a group format in which participants engage in a wide range of cognitively stimulating discussions and activities with the help of a trained facilitator.

After the initial 14 sessions, participants sometimes continue engaging with the program less frequently through booster sessions.

The program has been evaluated in numerous clinical trials which have found to be beneficial to people living with mild to moderate dementia and has been successfully adapted and implemented in many parts of the world.

More recently, similar programs have been developed and evaluated in which cognitive stimulation is delivered to individuals at risk of dementia through telehealth.

One such program, the I-CONECT program developed by Professor Hiroko Dodge from Harvard University, has been shown in clinical trials to improve a range of outcomes for healthy older people and for those living with mild cognitive impairment.

In collaboration with Professor Dodge, we at New Days have adapted the I-CONECT program for delivery through our cutting edge conversational AI agent who delivers the content of the program through daily conversations with our members.

You are welcome to find out more information about this on our website.

More information about the I-CONECT study available here.

Have a question for Dr. Alex? Submit your cognitive health questions to hello@newdays.ai and it might be featured in our next Ask Alex post.