Scientific research

Access and utilize the ICAA library of scientific studies, reports and statistics to assist you with the development of your business case for wellness, program and community design and development, evidence-informed lifestyle choices and marketing strategies and approaches.

Tech Talk: Rural residents less likely to use telehealth

Studies suggest that people living in rural areas are among those who could benefit most from telehealth, yet a new report shows they are less likely than urban people to engage in three basic telehealth activities: 17% of rural people conduct online health research, 7% engage in online health maintenance, and 1.3% use online health monitoring (compared with 20%, 11%, and 2.5% of urban residents, respectively).

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Market segments

How does mindfulness meditation improve mood?

A randomized controlled trial of 134 mildly stressed adults (mean age, 60; about half women) found that those who were assigned to a six-week mindfulness-meditation training program experienced significantly reduced negative affect variability-which refers to subjective distress and includes a range of mood states such as worry, anxiety, anger, self-criticism, and life dissatisfaction-compared with participants assigned to a waitlist control (no intervention).

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Program design

Sleep length tied to risk of falls and fractures

An analysis of data from more than 157,000 women between the ages of 50-80 followed for up to 12 years showed that those who slept five hours or less per night (short sleepers) or 10 or more hours per night (long sleepers) had increased odds of recurrent falls (falling two or more times in a single year) compared with those who slept about seven hours nightly.

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Physical wellness

Multifaceted exercise boosts function in hospitalized older adults

Researchers in Spain have found that an innovative multicomponent exercise intervention provided "significant benefits" over usual care among hospitalized patients in their 80s and 90s.

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Gerontology

Fructose-sweetened drinks linked to higher type-2 diabetes risk

Sweetened drinks pose a greater risk of type 2 diabetes than most other foods containing fructose, a naturally occurring sugar, according to Canadian researchers.

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Physical wellness

Stats: 39% of caregivers have health challenges themselves

Forty percent of US adults have experience providing care to an older family member or friend and 39% of these informal caregivers have a health condition, physical limitation, or mental health condition that affects their daily life or limits their own activities, according to a recent AP-NORC poll.

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Health conditions

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