Target intervention (Structured Group)
EVENTS
Skill building in memory support strategies focuses on three areas: 1) regular use of a calendar, 2) goal setting and use of task lists, and 3) organizational strategies. Goals of calendar use include supporting better planning and reducing reliance on spontaneous recall. Emphasis is placed on having an active/engaged lifestyle, hence the impetus for scheduling events in the calendar. A key component of this training is to make a With regard to the healthy lifestyles, we focus on three areas: 1) increasing physical activity, 2) increasing engagement in cognitively and socially stimulating activities, and 3) engagement in activities to aid in stress management and promote a sense of well-being. For physical exercise, the intervention target goal is for participants to engage in at least 150 min of moderately vigorous physical activity (PA) per week. This target was chosen based on recommendations of several well recognized health guidelines [Each participant in the structured intervention arm is provided with an iPad that contains the EMMA app to use throughout the intervention and the 12-month post-intervention follow-up period. Structured intervention sessions incorporate teaching participants to use the EMMA app to support new compensatory strategies, as well as self-monitor, and integrate new lifestyle behaviors into their everyday lives. Each of the compensatory training components are supported by specific EMMA app functions including: a Calendar, a daily To Do List, and a notes section to support goal setting and monitoring and implementation of organizational skills taught in the intervention. The EMMA app contains a section to write about all four of the stress management exercises, and participants create gratitude journal entries in this section. Participants use the EMMA app to plan out and schedule brain health activities. When a health activity is checked as completed, participants are asked to provide either minutes of physical activity or counts for cognitive or stress management activities, enabling them to monitor weekly progress towards the intervention goals. The EMMA app provides participants with graphs of their weekly progress towards the intervention goal for each of the brain health activities and rewards participants when they reach the goal. Use of this digital app also allows for the target intervention components of checking a calendar and to do list, expanding on organizational strategies and functional zones, and tracking health activities to be captured via the EMMA app data metrics.