Five years of support are requested by the PSU to develop methods for fluid-ability training in older persons as a common cognitive intervention in the cooperative clinical trial. The enhancement of activities associated with independent living is the primary outcome of interest in the cooperative trial. Prior research has shown a significant association between two direct measures of instrumental activities developed at PSU and the fluid abilities that are the target of training. Most recently, the investigators have found that training subjects who have low fluid ability has resulted in significantly greater improvement on an instrumental activity measure compared to those of average fluid ability. Dr. Willis developed the fluid-ability training and it has been used in two extensive programs of training research, including the Adult Development and Enrichment Project (ADEPT) and the Seattle Longitudinal Study (SLS) training studies. Significant training effects have been found in elderly persons up to seven years after they received this training. This study will involve fluid-ability training and subsequent booster sessions. Maintenance of training effects will be assessed for six months following training and for six months after booster sessions, with subjects monitored for a total of at least 16 months. Subjects will be recruited from a well-characterized at-risk population enrolled in a state-wide pharmaceutical assistance program. Considerable health and health services information has already been collected on subjects available and readily accessible. The site-specific project will extend prior fluid-ability training to African Americans within the same program.
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