Improving cognitive abilities of elderly Alzheimer's patients with intense exercise therapy

Abstract

This study focused on changes in the cognitive abilities of Alzheimer's patients residing in two separate long term care facilities as they were part of a group exercise therapy program. The research problem of this study was how to measure possible improvement in cognitive abilities in this population. The sample consisted of43 elderly (65-98 years old) Alzheimer's patients who resided in either of two convalescent homes in Pennsylvania. Patients who had been diagnosed as having Alzheimer's disease by their physician were assigned to either group exercise therapy, or to a no treatment control group. A pre-test, post-test experimental design was utilized in an attempt to control extraneous variables. The study was based on the premise that daily group exercise enhances physiological as well as psychological processes and consequently may im-prove cognitive abilities of patients with Alzheimer's disease. A student's t-test was utilized to test significance. The difference in the before and after scores of the experimental group (exercise) were significant (p .001) while the control group change was not significant. It can therefore be concluded that the hypotheses of this study was supported by the data obtained.