Healthy Cities Network Meeting

10-13 October 2007 - Rennes, France

Community project for memory training in Modena

Modena Councillour Assessor for Health Politics : Simona Arletti

Health Politics Office Staff: Daniele Biagioni

City of Modena Setting

Modena has about 180000 Citizens

The mental age

“I believe my brain is essentially the same one since when I was twenty. My way of thinking is not changed along the years. And it’s not because of my own peculiarity, but of that wonderful organ which is the brain. If you keep it training, it will work but if you dismiss it and you let it go in retirement,then it will weaken. Its plasticity is outstanding. That’s why we must keep on thinking”.

Rita Levi Montalcini. Nobel prize for medicine in 1986.She celebrated her 98° Birthday on 22nd April 2007

Dementia trend according to the age

85,3

57,6

33

17,6

8,53,91,80,80,40

30

60

90

55-59 60-64 65-69 70-74 75-79 80-84 85-89 90+ 103

%%

Age (years)Age (years)

Lucca U. et al., 2001.

It’s been assessed that in 2005 approximately 3700 people were affected by dementia in Modena. We forecast about 650 new cases of dementia every year (more than 50% affected by Alzheimer).

The elderly people’s amount is constantly increasing : in Modena they are about 40000.

Keep the memory in training decreases the speed of the brain ageing and reduces the risk of the cognitive decay, according to the international scientific literature.

One of the action priorities detected by the Health Plan of Modena is: “Interventions to delay elderly people’s invalidating disabilities”.

Among the interventions directed to fight against the cognitive decay, Local Government, together with Public Health Corporations, University and the voluntary association of the area, has developed:

The Community project

for memory training

Composed by four different action programs, closely related:

1. The memory garden2. The memory training courses3. The television broadcasts on local network and the DVD

spread through local newspaper 4. The Emotional Autobiographical Reminiscence courses

1.The memory garden• Composed by two paths, a short one (the red drawn) and a longer one (blue drawn) along which some panels are displayed, near the benches.

• Over each panel it can be read an exercise to train the memory. At the end of the path, a self evaluation form can be filled out.

• Periodical tours on the garden are organised to explain how to use the garden.

• It’s going to be built a second memory garden in another area of the city.

Memory Garden Map

(at Amendola Park -Modena)

2. The memory training courses:

• every course is composed by eight weekly one hour long lessons, carried out in groups composed by 15 elderly people (over 55 years old) each and managed by expressly trained teachers

• during the lessons teachers submit memory training exercises connected with the everyday life matters

• since 2005, 27 courses have been realized and 400 elderly people have been involved

• together with the courses it has been undertook a scientific research by Modena University, to verify the actual efficacy of these courses in avoiding or delaying elderly people’s invalidating mental disabilities along the time

• The outputs of the courses are very positive, according to the appreciation (from participants), the very high frequency and the actual validity (tests have been shown a real improvement in the learning skill and in the responsiveness = difference in the trial performance before and after the course).

Just an example of the positive courses outputs …

3 lists of 10 wordsBefore course After course

Groups - Age

Dott. Luc Peter De Vreese

As you can see from the graph, there is a clear improvement in the skill of learning 3 lists of 10 words, before and after the course, without a connection with the age

3. The television broadcasts on local network and the DVD

•The television broadcasts have gone on the air during 2006 on Local network “Tele Radio Città”: they present memory training exercises TV audience can perform at home

• Each episode deals with a specific human memory aspect and offers methods to face everyday matters

• The project have kept on with the fulfillment of a DVD which contains some broadcast episodes and in which it is explained how to exploit the memory garden

• The DVD is going to be spread through local newspaper “La Gazzetta di Modena”

DVD “The memory garden” cover

4. The Emotional Autobiographical Reminiscence courses

• The Emotional Autobiographical Reminiscence path means briefly to induce participants, organized in group, to think about its own life, writing down the most important aspects, in order to stimulate the memory and to increase the self-esteem and the socializing skill

• The testing – to achieve in the early 2008 – should bring to the creation of 4 groups connected with different activities: some people would deal only with autobiographical writing, while other ones would be associated with a memory training course too.

The Health Oscar We are really proud to have won the first Health Oscar, promoted by Italian Healthy Cities Network, with a project we believe so much in. We keep on it since 2004 to support an healthy ageing.

Our winning gives us the possibility to start on building a second memory garden in the city of Modena: the activities have just begun thanks to the resources obtained by Italian Healthy Cities Network.

Thank you for your attention!Simona Arletti (Modena Municipality)