Maintaining function

Recommendation 68 from our Clinical Guidelines Recommendations states that exercise is beneficial for people with dementia. This research shows that exercise and continuing to perform daily activities, with modification where needed, is beneficial for people with dementia who are living at home with carers and also those in residential aged care.

Exercise and performing everyday activities enables people to retain their functional ability, helps reduce falls and enables people at home with carers to stay independent for longer and those in residential care to maintain independence for longer and improve mood and wellbeing.

Physical activity can also improve and maintain cognitive functioning as well as physical functional abilities to enable more independence. And use of technology through socialisation robots can also benefit engagement and interaction of people in residential care with limited functional ability.