# BRAIN HEALTH TOGETHER: A LIVE-STREAMING GROUP-BASED DIGITAL PROGRAM

> **NIH NIH R44** · TOGETHER SENIOR HEALTH, INC. · 2021 · $1,504,982

## Abstract

Together Senior Health, Inc. (TOGETHER) is a woman-owned small business that is dedicated to helping
older adults with cognitive decline or Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) maintain quality of life
and independence by offering innovative, evidence-based, online, livestream, group programs. Our first
product on the TOGETHER audio/video platform is Moving TogetherTM—which combines movements to
support daily function with mindful body awareness exercises and social engagement and is designed for
people with mild ADRD and their caregivers who participate together from home. The primary goal of this
Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant is to expand our product line by developing
and testing a comprehensive BRAIN HEALTH TOGETHER program for people living with mild cognitive
impairment (MCI). This goal represents a critically important next step for our company from both public
health and business perspectives. Older adults with MCI represent a large market with important unmet needs:
approximately 20% of older adults (>2.7 million Americans) are currently living with MCI, which places them at
increased risk of developing ADRD. There are no medications that can prevent development of ADRD in
people with MCI; however, there is growing evidence that behavioral interventions targeting modifiable
dementia risk factors—such as physical inactivity, social isolation, and depression—may help improve
cognitive function and could potentially delay dementia onset. Our preliminary results suggest that our product,
Moving Together is associated with significant improvements in cognitive function, physical function, social
isolation, and self-regulation as well as increased default mode network connectivity on pre/post resting state
functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) scans in people with MCI. We believe that these benefits
would be even greater if Moving Together were combined with a comprehensive brain health coaching
program. Therefore, our Specific Aims are to: 1) Work with our Scientific Advisory Board and use
humancentered design to develop evidence-based content for Brain Health Together, a 12-week, group-based,
livestreaming, digital program that will combine Moving Together with brain health coaching to address
modifiable dementia risk factors in people with MCI; 2) Perform a randomized, controlled trial to determine
whether the Brain Health Together program improves cognitive function in people with MCI over 12 weeks
compared to a Successful Aging comparison group; and 3) Determine whether weekly maintenance classes
help to sustain the effects of the Brain Health Together program over 12 weeks after the intervention. If we can
demonstrate that BRAIN HEALTH TOGETHER has immediate and sustained cognitive benefits in
people with MCI, it will position TOGETHER as a national leader in evidence-based programs to
improve quality of life and prevent decline in older adults with cognitive impairment.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10324919
- **Project number:** 2R44AG074727-02
- **Recipient organization:** TOGETHER SENIOR HEALTH, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** Deborah E. Barnes
- **Activity code:** R44 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $1,504,982
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2021-09-30 → 2023-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10324919

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10324919, BRAIN HEALTH TOGETHER: A LIVE-STREAMING GROUP-BASED DIGITAL PROGRAM (2R44AG074727-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10324919. Licensed CC0.

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