In Denmark, nearly 700,000 people live with a disability (which corresponds to 21% of the population aged 16-64 years). About 45% of them have a major disability, many of whom receive assistance and treatment from residential and training stays [1]. Each year, approximately 26,000 Danish adults acquire a brain injury, caused by events such as accidents, stroke (blood clots or bleeding in the brain), infections, or cardiac arrest [2].
About 90% of all those admitted with stroke are over 65 years old, and stroke is the third most common cause of death in the world. Approximately one in seven Danes will be affected by a stroke at some point [3].
For the more than 230,000 Danes with acquired or congenital brain injuries, physical and cognitive rehabilitation is typically an important part of the rehabilitation and treatment process [3].
Consequences of brain injury include changes in the physical (balance problems or decreased endurance), activity (fatigue or problems solving tasks), cognitive (concentration or memory difficulties), language (speech or understanding), emotional (sadness or irritation), and/or personality (empathy or sense of situation) aspects [2].
Brain injury is a complicated matter, and no two courses are exactly the same. Therefore, neuro-rehabilitation is typically an individually tailored process based on the citizen's functional level, own wishes, and rehabilitation potential [4].
Neuro-rehabilitation is a targeted and time-limited collaborative process between a person with neurological dysfunction, their relatives, and relevant professionals, aiming for the individual to regain the greatest possible functionality and independence.
The goal of the rehabilitation and treatment process for the citizen is therefore as much recovery of cognitive, mental, physical, and social functions as possible [5].
Research on cognitive impairment and physical activity is constantly evolving. Research is still in the process of specifying whether physical activity directly affects cognitive impairment, whether it affects it indirectly through positive influence on surrounding health factors, or both [6]. However, so far, many studies suggest that physical activity (as a lifestyle parameter) produces effective prevention for cognitive impairment [7].
Intervention studies have been able to demonstrate positive effects for the elderly with existing cognitive impairment, where physical activity has a positive effect on parameters leading to better performance of ADL functions, and other cognitive-directed processes [7].
Studies have so far been able to demonstrate measurable, significant improvements in cognitive functions as a result of periods of regular physical activity, both in older citizens [8] and citizens with cognitive impairment [9, 10]. Positive effects of physical activity on measurable performance include improvement of physical aspects such as balance, cognition, function, behavior, and performance of everyday tasks [11, 12, 13, 14].
References can be found HERE.
