Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 3, 2026

Working Memory Training for Older Participants: A Control Group Training Regimen and Initial Intellectual Functioning Assessment
Published on: September 20, 2020
The Brain Health Champion study: Health coaching changes behaviors in patients with cognitive impairment
Hope E M Schwartz1, Camden P Bay2, Brittany M McFeeley1
1Department of Neurology, Center for Brain/Mind Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Hale Building for Transformative Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
Introduction:
Converging evidence suggests that increasing healthy behaviors may slow or prevent cognitive decline.
Methods:
We piloted a six-month, randomized, controlled investigation of 40 patients with mild dementia, mild cognitive impairment, or subjective cognitive decline. The intervention consisted of weekly motivational interviewing phone calls and three visits with a "Brain Health Champion" health coach, who guided participants to achieve personalized goals. Changes in behavior were measured using validated questionnaires.
Results:
Compared with the standard-of-care control group, Brain Health Champion participants had statistically significant and clinically meaningful increases in physical activity (Cohen's d = 1.37, P < .001), adherence to the Mediterranean diet (Cohen's d = 0.87, P = .016), cognitive/social activity (Cohen's d = 1.09, P = .003), and quality of life (Cohen's d = 1.23, P < .001). The magnitude of behavior change strongly predicted improvement in quality of life.
Discussion:
Our results demonstrate the feasibility and potential efficacy of a health coaching approach in changing health behaviors in cognitively impaired and at-risk patients.
Related Concept Videos
Cognitivism
Previously dominated by behaviorism, which prioritized observable behaviors and largely ignored mental processes, psychology transformed in the 1950s. Cognitive psychologists argue that understanding how we think and process...
Stress Prevention and Stress Management Techniques VI
Motivation and Self-Determination
Motivation, the driving force behind behavior, plays a pivotal role at every stage of the change process. The research...
Models of Health Promotion and Illness Prevention I
The health belief model (HBM) attempts to predict health-related behavior in specific belief patterns. According to the HBM, a person's...
Models of Health Promotion and Illness Prevention II
The agent-host-environment model states that disease results...
Levels of Health Promotion and Illness Prevention
In primary prevention, actions taken before disease onset prevent the disease from...
Cognitive Development During Adulthood

