Older adults living with HIV have trouble "remembering to remember," which affects their abilities to live independently and follow health care provider instructions. This experiment demonstrates that older HIVϩ adults can improve their memory performance in the laboratory by using specific strategies that reduce the cognitive demands of remembering to remember. Future studies using more naturalistic memory methods will determine whether similar improvements in remembering to remember can be achieved in the daily lives and health behaviors (e.g., medication adherence) of older adults with HIV disease.
Objective: The rapid development of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) into a pandemic required people to quickly acquire, evaluate, and apply novel complex health-related information about the virus and transmission risks. This study examined the possible interplay between neurocognition and health literacy in the early uptake and use of COVID-19 public health information. Method: Data were collected between April 23 and May 21, 2020, a period during which 42 out of 50 states were under a stay-at-home order. Participants were 217 healthy adults who completed a telephone-based battery that included standard tests of neurocognition, health literacy, verbal IQ, personality, and anxiety. Participants also completed measures of COVID-19 information-seeking skills, knowledge, prevention intentions, and prevention behaviors. Results: A series of hierarchical multiple regressions with data-driven covariates showed that neurocognition (viz, episodic verbal memory and executive functions) was independently related to COVID-19 knowledge (e.g., symptoms, risks) at a medium effect size, but not to informationseeking skills, prevention intentions, or prevention behaviors. Health literacy was independently related to all measured aspects of COVID-19 health information and did not interact with neurocognition in any COVID-19 health domain. Conclusions: Individual differences in neurocognition and health literacy played independent and meaningful roles in the initial acquisition of knowledge related to COVID-19, which is a novel human health condition. Future studies might examine whether neurocognitive supports (e.g., spaced retrieval practice, elaboration) can improve COVID-19-related knowledge and health behaviors in vulnerable populations.
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