The Air Force Villages Foundation has a long history of supporting research into normal aging and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In partnership with the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA), the Alzheimer's Care and Research Foundation- An Affiliate of the Air Force Villages Foundation, has sponsored studies on normal aging among AFV residents, and drug studies directed at the treatment of AD, vascular dementia, and "Mild Cognitive Impairment", a disorder that is thought to lead to AD in many cases.

These research activities are housed in the Freedom House. The research center contains space for patient evaluations, study personnel, equipment and record storage. A special internet connection provides easy access between research personnel in the AFV and the medical center.

The research activities to date have focused on normal aging. The Freedom House Study (FHS) has followed 600 AFV residents for five years now. This study examines the true determinants of frailty, level of care, and nursing home placement in the Villages’ population. Once these have been identified, interventions can be developed that may maintain the independence and autonomy of older persons. These can be tested in the AFV population, before being offered to the larger community of elderly persons around the country.

The FHS has already led to interesting results. It appears that cognitive functions are more important to independence than is physical health, and that tests as simple as drawing

a clock can accurately predict future health

status and independence, well into the future. Dr. Donald Royall, Research Director of the Freedom House, and Principal Investigator of the FHS, has presented his initial findings at several national and international meetings, including the 10th Annual Congress of the International Psychogeriatric Association in Nice, France and the XVIIth World Congress of the International Association of Gerontology in Vancouver, Canada.

Future studies will address treatments for AD and interventions to prevent or reverse that disorder. The possibility of reversing the effects of normal aging on cognition will also be explored. The AFV is located "just up the road" from UTHSCSA’s planned Aging Research Center in southwest Bexar county. That center plans to address the biology of aging and longevity. The current FH center is too small to support clinical studies on the FH residents themselves, but the opening of the remaining units should allow the development of nursing, behavioral or medical interventions designed to maintain or reverse the disabling effects of cognitive decline.