U of M researcher and senior care provider partner to bring cutting edge research and evidence-informed care to elderly suffering from Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.

November 23rd, 2020

The newly-developed partnership between a senior living community and care provider in BC and Alberta and the University of Manitoba, will bring innovative technology and care to elderly, with the objective to support brain health.

Optima Living has partnered with Dr. Zahra Moussavi, the Director of the Biomedical Engineering Program at the University of Manitoba and former Canada Research Chair, to bring her knowledge and a newly developed program called, Mind Triggers to their residents and communities. Dr. Moussavi will also work with Optima Living to further expand their online resource platform, providing the public with information about how to prioritize brain health and healthy aging. A webinar featuring Dr. Moussavi will be premiered on the Optima Living YouTube channel on February 4th, 2021. She also featured alongside Optima Living Principal Ali Shivji in "Coping with Alzheimer's," a discussion about how to lead a full life with Alzheimer’s and her app called Mind Triggers.

Dr. Moussavi’s interest and passion for brain health stems from personal experiences with Alzheimer’s, driving her interest to understand and improve the diagnosis and treatment of dementia. This drove the immediate connection Optima Living felt with Dr. Moussavi’s work, as Optima Living’s inception was also rooted in an investment by the experiences of their co-founders and principals with their own families. With each member of the team driven and committed to creating safe, comfortable, and welcoming homes, this partnership seemed the perfect next step to brining innovative technology to assist elderly in achieving health and wellness for their brains, minds, and memories!

Dr. Moussavi explains the five rules of healthy aging are: a healthy diet you enjoy, reducing and managing stress, getting adequate sleep, exercising regularly, and taking your brain to the gym. That is why, Dr. Moussavi has developed MindTriggers, an app dedicated to cognitive exercise, strengthening communication in the brain to manage and stabilize the progression of dementia symptoms.

Based on her experiences and learning’s Dr. Moussavi developed this iPad-based app with 7 "engaging" exercises with varying difficult levels to ensure your brain is challenged to maintain and strengthen its connections. Optima Living is so excited to partner with the University of Manitoba and bring this research-informed app to its residents, supporting, improving, and prioritizing healthy aging across it’s communities.

As Optima Living principal, Ali Shivji reiterates, “It comes back to a commitment we have, which is to all the Optima Family, the greater stakeholders that we engage with, and the other individuals we spend time with. We always want to be a knowledge partner, a thought leader and someone who can help people make great decisions, live their best lives, and hopefully be in a place that allows them to feel most at home and most comfortable in the life they are living. That is our objective at Optima Living.”