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

Sort By
Showing 98 results
  • Cognitive Decline, Mindfulness
  • Journal of Clinical Neuroscience,
  • 2019

The effects of mindfulness and health education programs on the emotional state and cognitive function of elderly individuals with mild cognitive impairment: A randomized controlled trial

  • Klainin Yobas, P., Kowitlawakul, Y., Lopez, V., Tang, C. T., Hoek, K. E., Gan, G. L., Lei, F., Rawtaer, I., & Mahendran, R
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.jocn.2019.05.031
This trial compared mindfulness training with a general health education programme in elderly Singaporeans with mild memory problems. Both groups showed improved mood after nine months, though neither group showed a clear improvement in memory or thinking test scores.
  • Cognitive Decline, Music and Art
  • Arts in Psychotherapy,
  • 2019

Art therapy for the prevention of cognitive decline

  • Lee, R., Wong, J., Lit Shoon, W., Gandhi, M., Lei, F., EH, K., Rawtaer, I., & Mahendran, R
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.aip.2018.12.003
This study found that older adults with early memory problems who took part in art therapy showed improved memory and attention after three months, with memory gains still visible six months later.
  • Diet & Nutrition
  • Aging,
  • 2019

Habitual tea drinking modulates brain efficiency: evidence from brain connectivity evaluation

  • Li, J., Romero Garcia, R., Suckling, J., & Feng, L
  • DOI: 10.18632/aging.102023
Using brain scans, this study found that older adults who regularly drank tea had more efficient and better-connected brains than those who didn't, offering visual evidence for tea's protective effect on the ageing brain.
  • Cognitive Decline, Diet & Nutrition
  • Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease,
  • 2019

The Association between Mushroom Consumption and Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study in Singapore

  • Feng, L., Cheah, I. K. M., Ng, M. M. X., Li, J., Chan, S. M., Lim, S. L., Mahendran, R., Kua, E. H., & Halliwell, B
  • DOI: 10.3233/jad-180959
In a study of 663 elderly Singaporeans, those who ate mushrooms more than twice a week were much less likely to have mild memory problems than those who ate less, even after accounting for other factors. This points to mushrooms as a possible dietary factor that helps protect the brain.
  • Cognitive Decline
  • Applied Neuropsychology - Adult,
  • 2019

Super-cognition in aging: cognitive profiles and associated lifestyle factors

  • Yu, J., Collinson, S. L., Liew, T. M., Ng, T. P., Mahendran, R., Kua, E. H., & Feng, L.
  • DOI: 10.1080/23279095.2019.1570928?journalCode=hapn21
Looking at almost 700 older Singaporeans, this study identified different types of 'super-agers' with especially sharp memory, attention, language, or spatial skills, and explored what earlier-life habits were linked to staying sharp into old age.
  • Nature-Based Interventions
  • Journal of Therapeutic Horticulture,
  • 2018

The effect of therapeutic horticulture on the psychological well-being of elderly in Singapore: A randomised controlled trial

  • Sia, A., Ng, K. S. T., Ng, M. K. W., Chan, H. Y., Tan, C. H., Rawtaer, I., Feng, L., Mahendran, R., Kua, E. H., & Ho, R. C. M
This study is part of the same research programme that tested how a therapeutic gardening programme affects the mental wellbeing of elderly people in Singapore, contributing early evidence for gardening's psychological benefits.
  • Diet & Nutrition, Elderly Mental Health
  • JPAD-Journal of Prevention of Alzheimers Disease,
  • 2018

Associations of Long-Term Tea Consumption with Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms in Community-Living Elderly: Findings from the Diet and Healthy Aging Study

  • Chan, S. P. ., Yong, P. Z., Sun, Y., Mahendran, R., Wong, J. C. M., Qiu, C., Ng, T. P. ., Kua, E. H. ., & Feng, L
  • DOI: 10.14283/jpad.2017.20
Looking at over 600 elderly Singaporeans, this study found that people who had been drinking tea for 15 years or more were less likely to have symptoms of depression or anxiety, even after accounting for other health and lifestyle factors.
  • Cognitive Decline, Music and Art
  • Trials,
  • 2018

Art therapy is associated with sustained improvement in cognitive function in the elderly with mild neurocognitive disorder: findings from a pilot randomized controlled trial for art therapy and music reminiscence activity versus usual care

  • Mahendran, R., Gandhi, M., Moorakonda, R. B., Wong, J., Kanchi, M. M., Fam, J., Rawtaer, I., Kumar, A. P., Feng, L., & Kua, E. H
  • DOI: 10.1186/s13063-018-2988-6
This trial compared art therapy with music-based reminiscence activities in elderly people with early memory problems. Art therapy led to bigger and longer-lasting improvements in memory, attention, and other thinking skills than music activities did.
  • Nature-Based Interventions
  • International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,
  • 2018

Effects of horticultural therapy on Asian older adults: A randomised controlled trial

  • Ng, K., Sia, A., Ng, M., Tan, C., Chan, H., Tan, C., Rawtaer, I., Feng, L., Mahendran, R., Larbi, A., Kua, E., & Ho, R
  • DOI: 10.3390/ijerph15081705
This trial found that a gardening programme lowered a marker of inflammation in the body and helped protect a factor important for healthy blood cell production in older Singaporean adults, supporting gardening as a way to promote healthy ageing.
  • Cognitive Decline, Cohort Studies, Music and Art
  • Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience,
  • 2018

Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial of Choral Singing Intervention to Prevent Cognitive Decline in At-Risk Older Adults Living in the Community

  • Tan, J., Tsakok, F. H. M., Ow, E. K., Lanskey, B., Lim, K. S. D., Goh, L. G., Tan, C. H., Cheah, I. K. M., Larbi, A., Foo, R., Loh, M., Wong, C. K. Y., Suckling, J., Li, J., Mahendran, R., Kua, E. H., & Feng, L
  • DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2018.00195
This study protocol describes a two-year trial testing whether joining a community choir can help prevent memory decline in 360 older Singaporeans at risk of dementia. It measures changes in thinking, mood, sleep, and stress.
Scroll to Top