Da Vulnerabilidade à Capacitação: implementação e avaliação de um programa multicomponente para prevenir e compensar o declínio relacionado com o envelhecimento

The EMBRACE program targets critical and escalating challenges associated with aging, such as cognitive decline, dementia, physical vulnerability, economic fraud, and digital exclusion. By employing a non-pharmacological intervention that integrates cognitive training, physical activity, nutritional counseling, oral health care, and financial and digital literacy education, the program aims to significantly enhance the QoL, cognitive functions and overall well-being of older adults. This comprehensive approach not only addresses immediate risk factors associated with aging but also pioneers preventive strategies aimed at fostering active and healthy aging. Thereby, the intervention was designed to EMBRACE the age-related alterations and challenges by providing older adults with strategies to maintain their health and well-being. The goals of the present research transcend the current state of the art in gerontology and public health. By integrating concepts and approaches across disciplines, including health sciences, digital literacy, and financial education, the project proposes an innovative multicomponent intervention that is uniquely positioned to tackle the multifaceted challenges faced by the aging population. This cross-disciplinary represents a significant leap beyond traditional, singularly focused interventions, offering a more effective and ecologic strategy. Furthermore, the project’s rigorous methodological design, incorporating a blinded RCT to evaluate the intervention's effectiveness, sets a new benchmark in the field. The project's ambition is also evident in its potential for scalability and global impact, aiming for integration into national senior university curricula and adaptation onto digital platforms for widespread dissemination. Through its pioneering approach, this research project is poised to make substantial contributions to public health policies and eldercare practices, significantly advancing our understanding and management of the complexity of aging. The EMBRACE project has three main goals: 1)to evaluate its effectiveness in maintaining QoL, overall well-being and functionality among older adults, in addition to enhancing their financial and digital literacy abilities; 2)to investigate the extent to which a multidomain intervention can prevent and/or delay cognitive impairment in elderly at increased risk of cognitive decline; and 3)to investigate the feasibility of implementing the program in the Portuguese population, over a period of 12 months; As secondary goals, the EMBRACE project aims to: 1)describe the adherence of participants to the intervention, as well as to each of its components; 2)quantify the variation of the secondary outcome variables of the EG and CG between the initial, final, and follow-up assessments; 3)develop or adapt measures for the Portuguese population that allow the evaluation of financial and decisional capacity, to be used in clinical contexts, similarly to what happens with other cognitive and affective functions. 4)The final goal is to develop an empirically validated Financial and Digital Literacy Program that will be available to implement locally and nationally, also being available to be translated and adapted to other cultures. To the best of our knowledge, although there are international programs focused on enhancing the financial literacy of older adults, this project will be the first whose results of the program will be subject to a quantitative analysis.