academic old age psychiatrist who received her undergraduate and postgraduate training, including an MD in 1994, at the Technical University in as a postdoc fellow at Boston University in the United States. University of Western Australia. She then took up her current position of University of Melbourne Professor & Chair of Old Age Psychiatry at the Department of Psychiatry, where she is also Head of the Academic Unit for Psychiatry of Old Age. Nicola is the Director of the St Vincent's Aged Mental Health Service in Kew. She currently serves as editor-in- chief for the scientific journal International Psychogeriatrics. Her main research focus is early diagnosis of cognitive impairment and intervention trials for older adults to improve mental health outcomes. factors can have a positive impact on the ageing brain. Researchers around the globe are aiming to find more specific evidence that a healthy lifestyle could also contribute to preventing or delaying cognitive decline and dementia. Several positive lifestyle factors are under investigation and amongst the most popular are a healthy diet, cognitive activity and physical activity. This presentation will give an overview on the current evidence and understanding how physical activity can improve brain health in old age for people with or without cognitive impairment. However despite increasing health as is the case in many other countries, are not performing enough physical activity during the week. Therefore more research is needed to identify strategies how to overcome barriers, which are stopping people to enjoy physical activity. One practical challenge is to identify how older adults can safely engage in physical activity especially if they have been sedentary for a long time. Another important issue is how individual preference of type and location of physical activity could be recognised to convince more members of the community to start and continue with a physical activity routine. Finally strategic efforts are necessary to translate findings from research projects back to the community. people with dementia professional education and development opportunities to assist in enhancing the skills of health professionals to provide quality daily care to people living with dementia. your destination for |