StrongerMemory Uplifts Brain Health
By Taylor Lane
At Goodwin Living, we believe that strong brain health is essential for everyone to live a full life with purpose, dignity and confidence. That’s why we’re proud to help those who live with mild cognitive impairment through StrongerMemory™, an innovative program created by Goodwin Brain Health that consists of three simple exercises: reading aloud, writing by hand and completing simple math exercises quickly.
Since its inception in 2020, the StrongerMemory program has touched the lives of thousands of older adults across the world. One of those is Claretha, a resident at a nursing care community in southwest Virginia.
Following congestive heart failure in 2020, Claretha experienced depression and cognitive changes. She’d often spend all day in bed, refusing to participate in group activities or even to get ready for the day. Later that same year, Claretha began StrongerMemory and her quality of life quickly improved.
Today, her dedicated certified nursing assistant (CNA) helps her get up each day to do her StrongerMemory exercises. Her husband has even started attending the sessions. He can’t believe how much his wife has improved since starting the program.
Claretha’s story—and many more like it—was made possible thanks to a Civil Monetary Penalty (CMP) reinvestment grant, funded through the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and administered by the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS). This grant allowed Goodwin Brain Health to offer StrongerMemory to nursing homes and senior centers across the Commonwealth of Virginia.
To better understand what drove these outcomes and how organizations can replicate this model, Goodwin Brain Health compiled its first StrongerMemory white paper, Improving Cognitive Health at Scale: Lessons from the CMP Grant Initiative.
What is StrongerMemory?
StrongerMemory is a simple, accessible, research-backed program that helps participants improve their brain health. StrongerMemory participants report sharper focus, greater recall and more confidence in their daily lives when they engage regularly with the exercises.
The tools to implement StrongerMemory are simple. Each participant can download or order a printed copy of the StrongerMemory workbook, which offers plenty of simple math exercises and around 200 writing prompts to help make StrongerMemory a daily habit. We also offer training and a guidebook with pre-written lesson plans for those who wish to facilitate group classes of StrongerMemory.
What’s more, thanks to the generous support of donors to the Goodwin Living Foundation, we offer this innovative program at no cost to participants.
Grant Funding Broadened Participation in StrongerMemory
In 2022, Goodwin Brain Health was awarded a CMP grant to expand StrongerMemory to nursing homes and senior centers across Virginia.
This grant allowed the Goodwin Brain Health team to build on our previous expansion efforts in Maryland and Virginia through the Village to Village network. The results from the expansion supported by the CMP grant were overwhelmingly successful. Between October 1, 2022, and June 30, 2025, alongside our partners at the Health Quality Innovators (HQI), we facilitated nine 12-week StrongerMemory cohorts involving 91 nursing homes and 862 resident participants.
For the duration of the CMP grant, Goodwin Brain Health offered the StrongerMemory program in a simple cohort or semester-style model that was easily adaptable and ready for use in nursing homes. Participants were asked to do the simple StrongerMemory exercises at least four or five times per week for 10 minutes per exercise. In total, participants completed at least 30 minutes of StrongerMemory exercises per day.
Though participants can use the program entirely on their own or one-on-one with a caregiver or loved one, we implemented semester-style courses in nursing homes. With this type of group approach, we could include the added cognitive benefit that social time and connection can provide. Participants often lifted one another up, encouraging them to add this brain health regimen to their daily routine.
Among participating residents, 76% reported improvements in cognitive function, demonstrating the class’s impact throughout their time in the program. Following the 12-week semesters, residents and their loved ones reported sustained improvement in their quality of life.
The Goodwin Health Brain team is grateful to have launched this version of StrongerMemory in so many nursing homes and senior centers, with 51% reporting they will continue the program on their own.
Download the Full StrongerMemory White Paper
As we celebrate the success of these efforts, we’re excited to share what we learned from the CMP grant process and how we exceeded our initial enrollment expectations. We encourage every adult—old or young—to download this complimentary copy of the first Goodwin Living Brain Health white paper, Improving Cognitive Health at Scale: Lessons from the CMP Grant Initiative.
The white paper includes more context, practical application tips and meaningful reflections on how to continue to execute this substantive and impactful program across more senior living and nursing communities as well as the general public. We celebrate these success stories thanks to nursing homes, participants and Goodwin Living team members who helped make better brain health a reality for so many people. Download the full paper to learn more about the exciting outcomes made possible through the CMP reinvestment grant.
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Taylor Lane is the StrongerMemory Outreach Coordinator with Goodwin Brain Health. In her role, Taylor finds, maintains and connects with organizations and individuals interested in incorporating the StrongerMemory program into their daily lives. She enjoys forging meaningful connections with participants and facilitators alike, and hearing the stories from individuals whom StrongerMemory has impacted. When she’s not at her desk, Taylor can usually be found with her nose in a fantasy book, cuddled up with her two cats.
