Evidence on the effectiveness of cooking activities as a well-being promotion intervention for older adults with subjective cognitive decline (SCD) and their caregivers is scarce. In view of this, a randomized controlled trial was conducted to examine whether a dyadic cooking-based intervention can improve the subjective health and well-being of older adults with SCD and their caregivers, as well as the cooking competence of the former group.

Randomized controlled trial.

Community.

Sixty pairs of community-dwelling older adults aged 60 years or above with SCD (mean age = 78.4 years) and their caregivers (mean age = 65.3 years) were randomly assigned to the intervention group (N = 30 pairs) and the wait-list control group (N = 30 pairs).

The intervention was an innovative 5-week (two hours per week) dyadic cooking-based intervention employing procedural learning methods specifically adapted for older adults with SCD.

The outcome measures included 1) a well-being index composed by four indicators: life satisfaction, feeling of happiness, sense of purpose and meaning in life, and perceived health, and 2) cooking competence.

For both older adults with SCD and their caregivers, the increases in the well-being index were significantly greater in the intervention group than in the control group (β = 0.508, 95% CI [0.036, 0.980]). For older adults with SCD, the increases in the cooking competence score were significantly greater in the intervention group than in the control group (β = 1.629, 95% CI [0.165, 3.071]).

The dyadic cooking-based intervention resulted in improvements in the cooking competence and well-being of older adults with SCD, as well as the well-being of caregivers.