DECIDE, DISCOVER, AND DO: AN INTERVENTION FOR COMMUNITY-DWELLING INDIVIDUALS WITH DEMENTIA

• Published in: Innovation in aging 2019-11, Vol.3 (Supplement_1), p.S463-S463
• Main Authors: Gorzelle, Gregg, Skrajner, Michael, Zeisel, John, Best, Cassie, Walker, Drew
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2399-5300; 2399-5300
• DOI: 10.1093/geroni/igz038.1730

Abstract Decide, Discover, and Do!TM (D3) is a mobile application being developed and evaluated in an NIA-funded Phase 1 SBIR project. The goal of D3 is to enhance the quality of life and care for community-dwelling individuals with dementia (IWD) whose primary care partners (CPs) are their family members. D3 consists of (1) video-based, interactive training for family CPs on best practices in dementia care and (2) evidence-based activities for CPs to facilitate with their loved ones. The study examines the impact of D3 training modules on knowledge transfer and the effects of D3 activities on engagement/affect. The activities are unique in that they create an overarching narrative for daily activities that creates a consistent routine, thereby capitalizing on procedural memory. The activities build upon one another, starting with the IWD choosing a topic (e.g., nature) early in the day, followed by the dyad engaging in a tablet-based activity related to the topic (e.g., reading an article about rainforests), and culminating in an experiential activity (e.g., tasting various foods found in rainforests ). In pilot work, when training was implemented with homecare workers, there was a significant increase in knowledge from pre- to post-test (+21.0, p