Tango for Alzheimer's Disease Patients' Caregivers

Effects of Adapted Tango on African-American Women Caregivers of Alzheimer's Disease Patients

The goal of the project is to determine the extent to which indices of inflammatory biomarkers, cognition and mood, are influenced by a partnered, dance-based intervention vs control condition in African American (AA) female family caregivers, at high risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD).

The importance of informal family caregiving in Alzheimer's disease (AD) is well-established. African-American caregivers are most often middle aged adult children of AD patients (vs. spouses), women, and are at higher risk for chronic health problems. AD lifestyle interventions offer an alternative to medication, and are generally affordable, accessible, and adaptable to the lives of caregivers. To date, most non-pharmaceutical interventions have focused on exercise and nutrition, both of which have proven to be highly successful in conferring AD related benefits and decreasing AD risk.

The goal of the project is to determine the extent to which indices of inflammatory biomarkers, cognition and mood, are influenced by a partnered, dance-based intervention vs control condition in African American (AA) female family caregivers, at high risk for Alzheimer's disease.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Women family caregivers from the Emory ADRC and Dr. Wharton's studies of Alzheimer's disease (AD) caregivers
• Parental diagnosis 'probable AD'
• African-American
• 45-65 years of age