Memory Intervention for Older Adults - A Pilot Study

Research shows that there are a plenitude of interventions that can be used to enhance memory for older adults; however, the evidence as to whether these interventions enhance memory for daily activities is equivocal. The purpose of this pilot study is to test a memory intervention that is potentially useful in everyday life. Objectives of the pilot study are: 1) to examine the feasibility of the intervention (e.g., ease of use of materials provided); and 2) to gain preliminary evidence of the intervention's impact on recall of recent daily social events. Participants will be 20 cognitively healthy (i.e. not cognitively impaired) older adults, with 10 participants randomly assigned to either an intervention or control group, respectively. The study will consist of: a) a pre-training session; b) seven days of independent memory training; and c) a post-training session. The pre-training session will involve a test that measures recall of daily social events from the previous week. This will be followed by seven days of training for recall of daily social events. During the seven days, the intervention group will perform daily memory tasks using self-instructional materials given to them by the researcher, whereas the control group will use their own strategies for remembering social events that they are involved in during the week. The post-training session will occur after the seven days and will involve the same test as the pre-training session that measures recall of social events from the previous week. The hypotheses are that: a) recall of social events will be higher for the post-training test than in the pre-training test and; b) recall will be better for in the intervention group than the control group. The ease of use of the memory recall materials provided to the intervention group will be assessed in interviews.