I don’t know about you but there isn’t a day that goes by where I am not surfing the web for something (usually shopping)! It was a great relief that I read about a study that had the conclusion I was waiting for! The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society indicates that little is known about the long-term cognitive impact of internet usage among older adults and yes, more research needs to be done however, their conclusion at the end of this study was that “regular internet users experienced approximately half the risk of dementia than non-regular users”!

What the study did was follow dementia-free adults, aged 50-64.9 for a maximum of 17.1 years using the Health and Retirement Study. They also looked at the association between time-to-dementia and baseline internet usage using cause-specific Cox models, adjusting for delayed entry and covariates, along with several other areas. What was also interesting was that when they looked at the difference in risk between regular and non-regular users, it did not vary by educational attainment, race-ethnicity, sex, and generation! Also, the lowest risk for developing dementia was observed among adults with 0.1-2 hour internet usage per day.

In fairness, the average age of our residents exceeds 64.9 years however, if internet use at mid-life may decrease the risk of dementia by half, even a small, incremental decrease in someone in their 80s would be significant! What are you doing in your center? Do you have open access to computer stations, tablets, smart phones, etc.? Are your staff encouraging residents to use these devices on a regular basis? It might just be time! Imagine, decreasing the risk of dementia even by a smidge, priceless! Stay well and stay informed!