Effects of Calligraphy Therapy in Cognitive Maintenance of the Elderly during Aging. Henry SR Kao1, Timothy C. Kwok2, Florence K. Ho2, Jessie C. Li2, & Stewart P. Lam3 1 Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-Sen University, China 2 General Management, Jockey Club Centre for Positive Aging, Shatin, Hong Kong, China 3 Research Group, Calli-Health Ltd, Shatin, Hong Kong, China ABSTRACT Background: Previous studies (Kao, 2006, Kao & Goan, 1995) showed that calligraphy is effective in improving the cognitive and perceptual abilities as well as emotional stability of its practitioners. Kao (2000) also confirmed this effect in treating some aspects of the Alzheimer’s patients. In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of calligraphy training on the activation and maintenance of cognitive functions in the aging elderly. Method: Thirty-one older Chinese were recruited from an old-aged home in Hong Kong. They were randomly assigned to the Calligraphy-writing (CW) group (n=13) or the Control group (CT) (n=18). Age was matched between the two groups (Calligraphy group=86.0 yrs; Control group=85.61 yrs). Participants in the CW group attended a group training program with 30 minutes of writing a day, 5 days a week, for 8 consecutive weeks. The pre- and post-training effects of calligraphy writing were assessed by the Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Chinese Dementia Rating Scale (CDRS). The CT group was measured only once before and again at the end of the 8 weeks …
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