National study finds early, proactive, targeted dementia care helps delay cognitive decline.
What the national study found
An estimated 7.2 million Americans 65 and older live with Alzheimer’s disease, a form of cognitive decline. That number is projected to nearly double by 2060, according to the National Institutes of Health, “barring the development of medical breakthroughs to prevent or cure AD.”
While no cure has yet been discovered, there is some good news in the fight against Alzheimer’s. In July 2025, U.S. POINTER published a groundbreaking study backed by the Alzheimer’s Association showing that cognitive decline can be delayed and even meaningfully improved with targeted interventions. The report re-inforced work that Alice’s Clubhouse and InterveneMD in Mount Pleasant are doing locally.
These interventions include exercise, healthy nutrition, cognitive engagement and medical monitoring. The findings also revealed that improvements occurred regardless of ethnicity, gender or genetic risk factors. A key takeaway from the study results is that healthy behavior can significantly impact brain health.
David AvRutick, founder and president of Alice’s Clubhouse, a dementia-specific medical-model memory care day center, said every activity there is designed with the purpose of physical and mental stimulation. Even the colors on the walls are intentional; the calming light green hues adorning most walls are specifically tailored toward a person with dementia.
What Alice’s Clubhouse has found is that almost everyone who goes through its day program, which is focused on socialization and physical and psychological well-being, will either stabilize or actually improve for a while.
“And the ‘for a while’ can be years,” AvRutick emphasized.
When members arrive at 8:30 a.m., they catch up on news, then move on to the first part of the program, which features exercise. Throughout the day, members engage in everything from walking to shooting hoops to putting golf balls. Word games, arts and crafts and puzzles also constitute part of their daily itinerary.
Notably, members contributed the artwork decorating the walls and painted the birdhouses outside. Music, whether it entails members or guest musicians playing piano or guitar, forms another piece.
“The secret sauce is really the combination of all these things,” explained AvRutick.
Local collaboration and why early action matters
Dr. Todd Joye, founder of InterveneMD, a Charlestonbased regenerative orthopedics and functional medicine clinic focused on brain, body and metabolic health, has a background in orthopedic and spine medicine and spent 27 years practicing pain management. Eventually, he came to the realization that “you can’t heal in isolation, and everything is connected.”
Dr. Joye said when he reached out to AvRutick over six months ago, “It kind of was a turning point and an epiphany – that we could do a lot together.”
As a physician, he can dive into body systems and probe the condition further. Elaborating on the connectivity aspect, he noted that with Alzheimer’s, it’s not just a brain issue; it starts with inflammation in the body. He underscored that the public isn’t receiving the right message about the disease. “Most people think the decline is inevitable or hope for a pill to treat it – but hope’s not a strategy. Pills are not addressing the problem with Alzheimer’s.”
As someone who has the Alzheimer’s gene, Dr. Joye acknowledged that part of his motivation involves selfpreservation, but working together with Alice’s Clubhouse allows both to bounce ideas off each other and innovate. One big advantage of the collaboration, said Dr. Joye, is that as small practices they can be nimbler and more adaptive since they don’t have to go through committees: “It’s community care.” That the two places are located within walking distance doesn’t hurt either.
AvRutick called the Dr. Joye collaboration a “no-brainer.” They already work with numerous partners including speech, occupational and physical therapists, home health care companies and senior care experts.
“Collaboration in health care, in my mind, is essential,” he asserted. “The longer we can postpone a higher level of care, the better. We’re all on the same team. It’s not a competition.”
As part of this collaborative care approach, podiatrists see Alice’s Clubhouse members, or they can get a haircut or massage on-site, appointments that typically occupy caregivers’ time, thereby reducing caregiver stress levels.
Both AvRutick and Dr. Joye expressed optimism about the POINTER study’s findings. Dr. Joye referenced how much science has learned about the brain in just the past five years compared to the past 50. As with any other medical condition, though, the sooner you treat people at risk of cognitive decline with interventions, the better.
“If you get on it and be proactive, it’s preventable and even reversible,” he said. His message to those who think they may have a family member showing signs of cognitive decline is simple: “Don’t live in fear. It is not inevitable. … There are resources available.” He continued, “With dementia or an Alzheimer’s diagnosis, you feel like the door is closing. But it’s not closing. It’s opening. It’s preventable even with the genes.”
Commented AvRutick, “Our biggest frustration is that people wait too long take action, and the POINTER study shows that early action is key.” The essence of the study, he added, is “don’t wait too long.”
Additional sources: National Institutes of Health, pmc.ncbi. nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12040760/; U.S. POINTER, uspointer.net/home.cfm.
By Colin McCandless
