Happiness as Medicine: Exploring Well-being in Dementia Care [Video]

Join Dr Sam Moxon and guests, Dr Emily Willroth, Dr Kyrsten Hill, and Karysa Britton, from Washington University in St. Louis three of the people behind the World Happiness Report.

Together they discuss their research showing that higher levels of well-being can act as protective factors against dementia and improve the quality of life for those living with the condition. They highlighted the importance of mental health and well-being in dementia prevention and care, and the potential for public health policies and community programs to incorporate these findings. In the show our guests also  emphasise the value of interdisciplinary collaboration in tackling dementia prevention.

In the 2024 issue of the World Happiness Report, the authors focus on the happiness of people at different stages of life. In the seven ages of man in Shakespeare’s As You Like It, the later stages of life are portrayed as deeply depressing. But happiness research shows a more nuanced picture, and one that is changing over time. In this show we focus on ‘Chapter 4 – Supporting the Well-being of an Aging Global Population: Associations between Well-being and Dementia’. However, we encourage you to explore all of the 2024 report for the latest findings on the happiness of the world’s young, the old – and everyone in between.

Listen to the postcast, read the report and check where the place you live, sits in the global happiness rankings.

Links mentioned in the show:

The World Happiness Report 2024 – https://bit.ly/4c2iOrg
Country Rankings – https://bit.ly/3KNyraa
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Full biographies on all our guests and a transcript can be found on our website:

https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk

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This podcast is brought to you by University College London / UCLH NIHR Biomedical Research Centre in association with Alzheimer’s Association, Alzheimer’s Research UK, Alzheimer’s Society and Race Against Dementia who we thank for their ongoing support.

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00:00 Introductions
03:26 About the Lifespan Lab
06:20 Well-being connection to lower dementia risk
08:16 Which measures of well-being are most associated with dementia
09:52 The importance of ‘purpose’
11:22 Why is there a connection between well-being and dementia
13:32 At what age does this become an issue?
15:24 How can we support the well-being of people living with dementia
17:41 Are there activities or strategies to help prevent dementia
20:05 How can public health policies use this information?
22:45 What are the next steps in this research?
26:00 How better can this research be supported?
28:43 What do you find rewarding about this work?
30:19 Round-up and goodbyes