News
December 2018
Age Well language volunteers go on field trip to Jersey
Volunteers taking part in the first wave of our Age Well clinical trial got the chance to try out their new language skills when they went on a group field trip to Jersey.
The 12 volunteers, all aged 65+ and from Normandy in France, got the ferry from St Malo to Jersey where they spent the day sightseeing, experiencing British culture and testing out the English they have all learned on a language course as part of one of the Silver Santé Study’s trials. The trip was organised with the help of the University of Caen where the students’ language lessons are held.
After using their English to buy bus tickets, the group visited Mont Orgueil Castle in Saint Martin and had lunch at a local pub, with many ordering fish and chips!
Left: Volunteers from one of the Study’s language groups (who must remain anonymous at this stage of the project) visiting Mont Orgueil Castle in Jersey.
Over the last 18 months, the group has been helping our expert researchers learn more about mental health & well-being in the ageing population. After taking part in a series of baseline tests, each volunteer was randomly assigned to one of three groups – an English language course, a meditation course, or a control group in which participants made no changes to their lifestyle. Wave 1 has now ended but Waves 2 and 3 are ongoing.
Blood tests, neuroimaging scans and questionnaires have been used by our expert researchers to assess the impact of the mental training techniques on the brain. Their lifestyle habits – such as sleep, diet, physical exercise and emotions – have also been monitored. The Silver Santé Study is the longest ever scientific study of language-learning and meditation intervention.
Dr Gaël Chételat, Project Coordinator, said: “We are enormously grateful to all the volunteers in Wave 1 who have kindly given up their time to help us discover more about how we can improve mental health & well-being in later life.
“Some of our volunteers have reported that taking part in our trials has been a life-changing experience for them so we’re very much looking forward to seeing what can be learned from the scientific data we have collected and we hope to have the results in 2020.”
SCD Well clinical trial team prepares to analyse data
Experts working on one of the Study’s two clinical trials – SCD Well – are preparing to analyse the data with a view to releasing the results in 2019.
The trial, led by Dr Natalie Marchant of University College London (UCL), is investigating the impact of mental training techniques on the mental health and well-being of patients with subjective cognitive decline (SCD) recruited from memory clinics in France, Germany, Spain and the UK.
Across the four centres, 147 patients were randomly assigned to short term intervention groups, such as health education or a mindfulness programme. Behavioural measures have been monitored to see how much of a difference can be made to participants’ well-being due to the intervention.
The methodologists and statisticians are now preparing to analyse the data in order to answer our primary research question: does participation in mindfulness training and/or a health education course reduce symptoms of anxiety? The scientific team is in the final stages of checking the remaining data to ensure consistency across all sites.
Above: An SCD Well volunteer takes has a blood test as part of the clinical trial.
October 2018
Project partners get a taste of meditation intervention techniques
July 2018
‘Magical’ Silver Santé workshop attracts great interest at high-profile international science forum
June 2018
Silver Santé to host session at Europe’s biggest interdisciplinary science event
Major French TV documentary features Silver Santé research
March 2018
Silver Santé Study features on French national TV programme
New video showcases Silver Santé Study work and team
Clinical trials on course for success
December 2017
Partners gather for annual consortium meeting in Barcelona
October 2017
Pilot study shows meditation may help cut Alzheimer’s risk
Play a vital role in improving mental health, urge Silver Santé team
Memory clinic patients recruited for next phase of four-centre clinical trial
June 2017
Volunteers help attract new recruits for Caen clinical trial
Trial investigating benefits of mental training techniques on memory clinic patients well underway
March 2017
Silver Sante Study nominated for SilverEco 2017 Award
Trial groups announced to Caen volunteers
December 2016
Hundreds volunteer to take part in Age-Well Study
Silver Santé Study partners gather for General Assembly in Bonn
Memory clinic patient trials due to begin in March 2017
September 2016
Silver Santé researchers meet with Dalai Lama
Volunteers in Caen, France, invited to local meetings
Preparations for further trials on course
June 2016
Huge turnout for 1st Public Conference
May 2016
You can also view official press releases and our e-newsletters.
And read ‘Points of View’ from our expert researchers.
