The science behind NewDays
The evidence-based methods that inform treatments delivered by NewDays have been consistently supported in clinical trials as improving cognition, quality of life, and independence in people with mild cognitive impairment and dementia, and even delay cognitive decline.
Loneliness and isolation
Activities of daily living
Memory score improvement
Self-efficacy and meeting goals
Confidence in social interaction
Executive function
The evidence is substantial
The benefits of our cognitive treatments are backed by a large body of evidence from more than 500 clinical trials and papers, and 50+ systematic reviews published in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
Recommended by leading health organizations
The validated treatments informing the NewDays approach have gained recognition from major health organizations worldwide as the recommended standard of care for people living with mild cognitive impairment and dementia.
Conversations and practice at the heart
Results from numerous clinical trials show three types of interventions, to be beneficial for people that face cognitive change. Each of them are based on having guided conversations.
Cognitive Stimulation Therapy
Cognitive Training
Cognitive Rehabilitation
All the data below is derived from clinical trials and papers published in peer reviewed scientific journals.
Cognitive Stimulation
Cognitive Stimulation Therapy1 activates multiple parts of the brain through a number of activities. A recent clinical trial2 involved socially isolated participants over the age of 75. They engaged with 4 weekly directed conversations for six months and then 2 weekly directed conversations for the following six months. Remarkably, for a subset of participants, the clinical trial showed that the intervention delayed cognitive decline by 6 months to 2.5 years.
While researchers aim to see even small effects to prove efficacy, in this meta-analysis3 of 36 randomized controlled clinical trials we see sizable positive effects vs. the control across all measures, with a large effect on communication and social interaction standing out - a top priority for people living with dementia.
1. Orrell M, Hoe J, Charlesworth G, et al. Support at Home: Interventions to Enhance Life in Dementia (SHIELD) – evidence, development and evaluation of complex interventions. Southampton (UK): NIHR Journals Library; 2017 Feb. (Programme Grants for Applied Research, No. 5.5.) Chapter 2, Maintenance cognitive stimulation therapy. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK424178/
2. Dodge, H.H. et al 2024. Internet-based conversational engagement randomized controlled clinical trial (I-CONECT) among socially isolated adults 75+ years old with normal cognition or mild cognitive impairment: Topline results. The Gerontologist, 64(4), p147.
3. Woods, B., Rai, H.K., Elliott, E., Aguirre, E., Orrell, M. and Spector, A., 2023. Cognitive stimulation to improve cognitive functioning in people with dementia. Cochrane database of systematic reviews, (1).
Cognitive Training
Cognitive Training 4 involves more targeted practice on tasks design to improve specific cognitive abilities (e.g., attention, working memory). In a stand out study5, 2832 healthy older participants who completed a 6-week cognitive training program (and follow up booster sessions in following years) have shown some benefits even 10 years later - particularly those who trained on tasks to improve processing speed. Indeed, these participants even showed a lower incidence of dementia at the 10 year follow-up. Numerous trials and meta-analytic6,7,8 studies have confirmed that cognitive training is associated with cognitive and other benefits.
This meta-analysis of 97 Cognitive Training randomized controlled trials illustrates the breadth of positive effects. Subjective cognition, a person’s self-reported experience of cognitive decline, consistently shows a large impact, implying this therapy can measurably improve a patient’s mindset and daily life.
4. Bahar‐Fuchs, A., Clare, L. and Woods, B., 2013. Cognitive training and cognitive rehabilitation for mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. Cochrane database of systematic reviews, (6).
5. Rebok, G. W., Ball, K., Guey, L. T., Jones, R. N., Kim, H., King, J. W., Marsiske, M., Morris, J. N., Tennstedt, S. L., Unverzagt, F. W., & Willis, S. L. (2014). Ten‐Year Effects of the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly Cognitive Training Trial on Cognition and Everyday Functioning in Older Adults. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 62(1), 16–24.
6. Mewborn, C.M., et al., 2017. Cognitive interventions for cognitively healthy, mildly impaired, and mixed samples of older adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized-controlled trials. Neuropsychology review, 27, pp.403-439.
7. Bonnechère, B., Langley, C. and Sahakian, B.J., 2020. The use of commercial computerised cognitive games in older adults: a meta-analysis. Scientific reports, 10(1), p.15276.
8. Hudes, R., et al., 2019. The impact of memory-strategy training interventions on participant-reported outcomes in healthy older adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychology and aging, 34(4), p.587.9.
Cognitive Rehabilitation
Cognitive Rehabilitation9 Cognitive rehabilitation can be thought of as the cognitive counterpart of physical rehabilitation. Here, specific functional goals are set by a person with dementia in collaboration with the therapist, and in subsequent sessions, the client and therapist work together to help the client regain their ability to perform the activity using a range of evidence-based strategies. For example, in stand out trial involving 475 people with dementia, 10 sessions of cognitive rehabilitation+ 4 booster sessions were associated with the self-reported and carer-reported score for the ability of the person to perform the activity stated in their goal nearly doubled. This reablement-based approach led to a change from “I can no longer do this” to “I can do this again”.
Meta-analysis11 of all the available clinical trial data for Cognitive Rehabilitation underscores the strong positive impact on self-efficacy and personal goal attainment - likely translating to increased confidence. Notably, caregivers also observed the improvement.
It must be noted that cognitive interventions neither prevent dementia nor cure it. However, they do provide meaningful support for people living with cognitive changes and their close others, support that has never been needed more. Although promising findings from individual trials have been reported for some time, it is only recently that the entire body of evidence has been synthesized at a high level and provided more definitive evidence for the benefits of these approaches. Despite both researchers and clinicians expressing increased confidence in these interventions, and despite clients strongly asking for them, making these interventions more accessible in clinical and community settings and scaling up their availability has been unacceptably slow. Enter NewDays, we are harnessing the power of AI coupled with skilled human clinicians to democratize and enhance clinical care: Providing a scalable and cost effective way to deliver an optimal dose of cognitive interventions (daily conversations and exercises with AI, monthly connections with a human therapist). This never would have been possible even a few years ago.
9. Clare, L. and Woods, R.T., 2004. Cognitive training and cognitive rehabilitation for people with early-stage Alzheimer's disease: A review. Neuropsychological rehabilitation, 14(4), pp.385-401.
10. Clare L, et al 2019.. Goal-oriented cognitive rehabilitation for early-stage Alzheimer's and related dementias: the GREAT RCT. Health Technol Assess. 2019 Mar;23(10):1-242. doi: 10.3310/hta23100. PMID: 30879470; PMCID: PMC6441850.
11. Kudlicka, A., et al. 2023. Cognitive rehabilitation for people with mild to moderate dementia. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (6).