PUBLICATION

Advancing Mental Well-Being
Through Research

Our publications share research, clinical insights, and multidisciplinary perspectives that advance mental well-being, resilience, and healthy ageing across communities. Through evidence-based knowledge and collaboration, we aim to inspire learning, innovation, and meaningful community impact.

Our Publication

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Showing 98 results
  • Elderly Mental Health
  • Frontiers in Psychiatry,
  • 2021

Association between fear of COVID-19, affective symptoms and risk perception among community-dwelling adults during a COVID-19 lockdown

  • Han, M. F. Y., Mahendran, R., & Yu, J
  • DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.638831
In a survey of over 400 older Singaporeans during the COVID-19 lockdown, greater fear of the virus was linked to higher anxiety, more depressive symptoms, and a higher perceived risk of catching it, and this fear was stronger in older participants.
  • Cognitive Decline, Mindfulness
  • Journal of Psychiatric Research,
  • 2021

Mindfulness intervention for mild cognitive impairment led to attention-related improvements and neuroplastic changes: results from a 9-month randomized control trial

  • Yu, J., Rawtaer, I., Feng, L., Fam, J., Kumar, A. P., Kee Mun Cheah, I., Honer, W. G., Su, W., Lee, Y. K., Tan, E. C., Kua, E. H., & Mahendran, R
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.01.032
This trial found that nine months of mindfulness training improved attention-related thinking skills and was linked to a thickening in a brain region tied to attention, compared with a health education programme, in older adults with mild memory problems.
  • Digital Health, Elderly Mental Health
  • JMIR Aging,
  • 2021

Social Media and its Impact on Health-Related Outcomes among Older Adults in Singapore: Qualitative Study. Qualitative Study

  • Han, M., Tan, X. Y., Lee, R., Lee, J. K., & Mahendran, R
  • DOI: 10.2196/23826
This study explored how older Singaporean adults use social media and what they think its effect is on their health, finding that personal attitudes, ease of use, and trust in the content shape how much they rely on it.
  • Cognitive Decline, Nature-Based Interventions
  • The Journals of Gerontology: Series A,
  • 2021

Horticultural Therapy Reduces Biomarkers of Immunosenescence and Inflammaging in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Feasibility Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

  • Wong, G. C. L., Ng, T. K. S., Lee, J. L., Lim, P. Y., Chua, S. K. J., Tan, C., Chua, M., Tan, J., Lee, S., Sia, A., Ng, M. K. W., Mahendran, R., Kua, E. H., Ho, R. C. M., & Larbi, A
  • DOI: 10.1093/gerona/glaa271
This trial found that a gardening programme reduced signs of immune system ageing and chronic low-level inflammation in older Singaporean adults, giving biological evidence that gardening can help counter age-related decline in the immune system.
  • Family & Caregiving
  • International Journal of Nursing Studies,
  • 2021

The effectiveness of reminiscence-based intervention on improving psychological well-being in cognitively intact older adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis

  • Tam, W., Poon, S. N., Mahendran, R., Kua, E. H., & Wu, X. V
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2020.103847
Reviewing many studies, this research found that reminiscence activities — encouraging older adults to recall and share memories from their past — generally improve their sense of wellbeing, supporting these low-cost, social activities as a simple way to boost mood.
  • Cognitive Decline
  • Aging,
  • 2021

Commonalities in Biomarkers and Phenotypes between Mild Cognitive Impairment and Cerebral Palsy: A Pilot Exploratory Study

  • Ng, T. K. S., Tagawa, A., Ho, R. C. M., Larbi, A., Kua, E. H., Mahendran, R., Carollo, J. J., & Heyn, P. C
  • DOI: 10.18632/aging.202563
This early exploratory study compared body markers and physical traits between older adults with mild memory problems and younger adults with cerebral palsy, finding some shared features that may point to a common pattern of 'faster ageing' in both groups.
  • Cognitive Decline, Music and Art
  • Aging,
  • 2020

Effects of choral singing versus health education on cognitive decline and aging: a randomized controlled trial

  • Feng, L., Romero Garcia, R., Suckling, J., Tan, J., Larbi, A., Cheah, I., Wong, G., Tsakok, M., Lanskey, B., Lim, D., Li, J., Yang, J., Goh, B., Teck, T. G. C., Ho, A., Wang, X., Yu, J. T., Zhang, C., Tan, C., & Chua, M
  • DOI: 10.18632/aging.202374
In a two-year trial, older Singaporeans at risk of dementia who joined a weekly choir showed a small but real improvement in thinking skills compared with those who received health education instead, though no differences showed up on brain scans or ageing markers.
  • Cognitive Decline, Mindfulness
  • Aging,
  • 2020

Mental awareness improved mild cognitive impairment and modulated gut microbiome

  • Wei, W.T.K., Voong, M. L., Ng, T. K. S., Feng, L., Rane, G. A., Kumar, A. P., Kua, E. H., Mahendran, R., Mahendran, R., & Lee, Y. K
  • DOI: 10.18632/aging.202277
This trial found that mindfulness training improved thinking test scores in older adults with mild memory problems while also changing the mix of bacteria in their gut, suggesting the gut may play a role in how mindfulness benefits the brain.
  • Cognitive Decline, Mindfulness
  • NeuroImage,
  • 2020

The individualized prediction of cognitive test scores in mild cognitive impairment using structural and functional connectivity features

  • Yu, J., Rawtaer, I., Fam, J., Feng, L., Kua, E. H., & Mahendran, R
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117310
This study used brain scan data and computer models to predict how well older adults with mild memory problems would score on 10 different thinking tests, aiming to reduce the need for long, sometimes unreliable memory testing sessions.
  • Cohort Studies, Diet & Nutrition
  • Aging,
  • 2020

Cohort profile: the Diet and Healthy Aging (DaHA) study in Singapore

  • Yu, R., Sun, Y., Ye, K. X., Feng, Q., Lim, S. L., Mahendran, R., Cheah, I. K. M., Foo, R. S. Y., Chua, R. Y., Gwee, X., Loh, M., Sarmugam, R., Khine, W. W. T., Chao, Y. X., Larbi, A., Lee, Y. K., Kumar, A. P., Kennedy, B. K., Kua, E. H., & Feng, L
  • DOI: 10.18632/aging.104051
This paper describes a long-term Singapore study tracking diet and health in over 1,000 elderly participants, which has supported many related studies on tea, mushrooms, and other foods and their links to brain health.
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