New app focuses on optimizing brain health

TORONTO, Dec. 2, 2022 /CNW/ - On the fourth annual Women's Brain Health Day, Women's Brain Health Initiative (WBHI) announces the launch of BrainFit, a free habit tracking mobile app created to help users optimize their brain health.

The first of its kind, BrainFit is designed to help lower dementia risk and prolong cognitive vitality with an emphasis on all Six Pillars of Brain Health - stress management, mental stimulation, social activity, nutrition, exercise, and sleep. BrainFit provides users with timely and substantiated information to foster brain-healthy habits to get and stay brain fit, along with helpful words of encouragement and support.

"Women's Brain Health Day is the ideal time to announce the launch of BrainFit," said WBHI President and CEO Lynn Posluns. "BrainFit is our newest initiative to educate the public on the best ways to protect their brain health. Best of all, it is free thanks to a financial contribution from the Public Health Agency of Canada through the Dementia Strategic Fund, increasing accessibility to more people. Users will learn about some of the best habits to help reduce their risk of brain-aging diseases like Alzheimer's, which disproportionately affect women."

Committing to new habits is difficult for most of us, but with a habit tracker it is easier to create and maintain healthy new habits. BrainFit monitors your progress providing a sense of accomplishment and the motivation to continue to help users achieve their goals. The app is private, secure, and confidential. It also includes the latest evidence on dementia prevention.

Women's Brain Health Day was officially recognized by the Government of Canada in 2019 and shines a spotlight on the fact that many serious brain health conditions, such as Alzheimer's disease, anxiety, and depression, occur more frequently in women than in men.

The vast majority of medical research into these disorders focuses on men. WBHI, a national charity, is correcting the imbalance by funding cutting-edge research into the differences between female and male brains, as well as creating innovative preventative health education programs, like BrainFit.

In honour of this day, landmarks across Canada including the CN Tower, Niagara Falls, Montreal Tower, and Calgary Tower, and more will be lit up in purple and symbolic of Women's Brain Health Initiative.

To commemorate this important day, WBHI has partnered with BMO Financial Group who will be the Presenting Sponsor for this event for the next three years. The event on December 2nd, 2022, features an in-person and virtual fundraising luncheon event, with special guest comedian and mental health advocate Mary Walsh. Emceed by CTV's Your Morning host Anne-Marie Mediwake and financial commentator Pattie Lovett-Reid, the event also features other dignitaries and a special musical performance by Juno award-winner Sean Jones. 

Everyone can celebrate Women's Brain Health Day and raise funds for more research that better meets the needs of women by participating in WBHI's annual Stand Ahead^® Challenge. This fun, viral 'Conductor' challenge tests your coordination requiring you to draw an imaginary vertical line (a 1-2 count) with one hand while they draw an imaginary triangle (a 1-2-3 count) with the other concurrently. Participants are encouraged to record themselves taking the challenge and post their video on social media with the hashtag #StandAhead. Participants then call upon two friends to do the same and donate to Women's Brain Health Initiative. Once again, Brain Canada, through its partnership with Health Canada, is matching the first $250,000 raised through the challenge. To date, WBHI has raised over $2 million for women's brain health research through the Stand Ahead^® Campaign and its annual challenges.

BrainFit is made possible through a financial contribution from the Public Health Agency of Canada and with support from York University, BitBakery, The Citrine Foundation of Canada, TELUS, RBC, Home Instead, and RB33.

Download BrainFit today: www.brainfit.org

For more information on the BrainFit app:
www.brainfit.org

For more information on Women's Brain Health Day Event:
https://womensbrainhealth.com/event/womens-brain-health-day-2022

For more information on the challenge and how to donate:
https://standahead.org

Learn more about WBHI, its research programs and brain health:
https://womensbrainhealth.org

SOURCE Women's Brain Health Initiative

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/December2022/02/c2218.html