Abstract
Per activity theory, older adults who remain engaged in the world around them experience increased levels of psychological and physical well-being. Activity engagement is particularly important for older adults with dementia, as it has been shown to decrease depressive symptomatology, improve performance of daily activities, improve quality of life, foster positive attitudes toward caregivers, and decrease challenging behaviors. Using data from the second (T1) and third (T2) rounds of the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS), we examined activity engagement as a predictor of well-being, functional independence, cognition, and mortality in participants with dementia through logistic regression models. Engagement at T1 was significantly associated with higher well-being, greater independence of complex daily activities, better cognition, and decreased mortality at T2. Our findings show that meaningful activities may decrease mortality even in the face of chronic health conditions and dementia diagnosis, and can enhance quality of life, well-being, and cognition.