BRAIN HEALTH TOGETHER: A LIVE-STREAMING GROUP-BASED DIGITAL PROGRAM

Together Senior Health, Inc. (TOGETHER) is a woman-owned small business that is dedicated to helping older adults with cognitive decline or Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) maintain quality of life and independence by offering innovative, evidence-based, online, livestream, group programs. Our first product on the TOGETHER audio/video platform is Moving TogetherTM—which combines movements to support daily function with mindful body awareness exercises and social engagement and is designed for people with mild ADRD and their caregivers who participate together from home. The primary goal of our Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant is to expand our product line by developing and testing a comprehensive BRAIN HEALTH TOGETHER program for people living with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). There are no medications that can prevent development of ADRD in people with MCI; however, there is growing evidence that behavioral interventions targeting modifiable dementia risk factors—such as physical inactivity, social isolation, and depression—may help improve cognitive function and could potentially delay dementia onset. Our preliminary results suggest that our product, Moving Together, is associated with significant improvements in cognitive function, physical function, social isolation, and self-regulation as well as increased default mode network connectivity on pre/post resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) scans in people with MCI. We believe that these benefits would be even greater if Moving Together were combined with a comprehensive brain health coaching program. Our Phase II Specific Aims are to: 1) Work with our Scientific Advisory Board and use human-centered design to develop evidence-based content for Brain Health Together, a 12-week, group-based, live-streaming, digital program that will combine Moving Together with brain health coaching to address modifiable dementia risk factors in people with MCI; 2) Perform a randomized, controlled trial to determine whether the Brain Health Together program improves cognitive function in people with MCI over 12 weeks compared to a Successful Aging comparison group; and 3) Determine whether weekly maintenance classes help to sustain the effects of the Brain Health Together program over 12 weeks after the intervention. If we can demonstrate that BRAIN HEALTH TOGETHER has immediate and sustained cognitive benefits in people with MCI, it will position TOGETHER as a national leader in evidence-based programs to improve quality of life and prevent decline in older adults with cognitive impairment. Technical and Business Assistance (TABA) funding will enable TOGETHER to access external market research expertise to identify and position our BRAIN HEALTH TOGETHER program with different potential user segments with targeted messages and meaningful content that is most relevant to each segment.