Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

The Canadian population is aging at an unprecedented rate, and an increase in the prevalence of age-related diseases is expected in the coming decades. Dementia, or declines in cognitive function beyond those expected in healthy aging, is one such age-related disease on the rise in Canada. Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is a diagnosis often preceding dementia, indicating an individual is at increased risk of developing dementia. The most common cause of dementia is Alzheimer's disease (AD). Dementia symptoms like memory loss and a decreased ability to complete goal-directed behaviours can create significant impairments in social and occupational functioning, limiting one's ability to perform the daily tasks necessary to live independantly in the community. Currently, there is no cure for dementia, and available therapies can only slow down, not stop or reverse, symptoms. Until a cure is found, research on strategies to prevent dementia and reduce its burden on individuals and communities is greatly needed. Physical activity (PA) has a critical role to play in these strategies. Not only has PA been shown to reduce the risk of developing dementia later in life and progressing from MCI to dementia, but it also helps persons living with dementia maintain their ability to perform daily activities required for independant community living. Despite these benefits, adults aged 65 years and older in Canada report the lowest PA levels of any demographic. Persons with dementia are at increased risk of low PA due to disease-related barriers to PA participation. This research study aims to explore what persons with MCI and AD and their caregivers think about PA as a health behaviour and their perceived barriers, facilitators, and motivators to PA participation. In learning about how persons with MCI and AD perceive and participate in PA, we can develop strategies to increase the use of PA as a health-promoting behaviour to reduce the impact of dementia in Canada.