The objective of the proposed study is enhanced memory performance and everyday cognitive functioning in ethnically diverse and rural samples of older adults using CDROM-based, individualized memory training.
The specific aims are: (1) to explore the feasibility of CDROM-based memory training with samples of predominantly African-American and predominantly European-American older adults; (2) to compare training effectiveness within both samples to that of a large, ongoing clinical trail of various cognitive intervention including memory and reasoning enhancement; and (3) to explore the social, health, and individual difference variables that predict training effectiveness within each ethnic group. Previous research has begun to answer questions about the modifiability of cognitive performance and its effects on public health outcomes and quality of life among older people, but there is a need to assess the validity of these approaches for understanding cognitive functioning in elderly African-American and elderly who live in rural areas. Questions also remain about the most efficient mode of delivery of these interventions to ethnically and geographically diverse populations who may benefit from their implementation. CDROM-based multimedia modes of delivery for older adults may offer a more accessible, appealing, and cost-effective method of intervention than the small group classes offered in many current cognitive training programs for older adults. Using a 2-sample (African-American, European-American) repeated measures design with 128 older adults aged 50 and over, this study will implement a 14-session training program with a CDROM program called Facts and Figures. This program closely resembles the type of memory training and mnemonic strategies being offered in the large clinical trail whose results will be used for comparison purposes. Outcome data on word list memory, digit span, prospective memory, memory for names and faces, and perceived memory functioning will be collected, along with information on everyday cognitive and functional abilities, health care and health service utilization, depression, and quality of life. The main hypothesis is that CDROM memory training will significantly enhance memory performance in both ethnic groups and that the improvement will be equal of greater than that seen in a parallel clinical trail. Individual difference variables such as education, depression, and the presence of chronic health condition such as hypertension, diabetes, and coronary heart disease are expected to moderate the effects of memory training within each ethnic group. The results of this pilot project can provide the needed scientific validation for extending for extending individualized, CDROM memory training to broader populations, and will be useful for developing and refining other interactive, computerized cognitive training programs for older adults.
| Saczynski, Jane S; Rebok, George W; Whitfield, Keith E et al. (2007) Spontaneous production and use of mnemonic strategies in older adults. Exp Aging Res 33:273-94 |
