Trial across 11 Latin American countries highlights value of culturally adapted lifestyle programmes for dementia
A study published in The Lancet has shown that culturally adapted lifestyle interventions can lead to cognitive improvements in a wide-variety of communities.
The study – known as the LatAm-FINGERS Initiative for Cognitive Change – was conducted across 11 Latin American countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay). Researchers studied individuals aged 60–77 years with a high risk of dementia and provided a 2-year tailored culturally adapted lifestyle programme or a flexible health-advice intervention.
The researchers say:
“A culturally adapted multidomain lifestyle intervention was feasible across Latin America and resulted in greater cognitive improvements than a flexible health-advice intervention in older adults at risk of cognitive decline. These findings extend the evidence base for multidomain lifestyle interventions to populations historically under-represented in dementia research, supporting their feasibility and scalability as strategies to reduce cognitive decline risk amid the rapidly growing burden of dementia in low-income and middle-income countries.”
Read the study here: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(26)01278-X/abstract
More from the US Alzheimer’s Association here: https://www.alz.org/wwfingers/featured-study-results
This research builds on the original FINGERS trial, which first showed that structured lifestyle interventions can significantly improve people’s memory and thinking.