Broad spectrum intervention and the remediation of prospective memory declines in the able elderly

Abstract

Prospective memory refers to the ability to rem em ber to carry out activities in the future. Examples of prospective memory include remembering to take one's m edication, attend an appointment or to pay one's bills. Few studies have addressed the remediation of prospective memory in the elderly despite the fact that adaptive prospective m em ory ability has a signi® cant impact on daily functioning. Sixty-eight able elderly participated in a pilot study of a seven-session workshop designed to enhance memory functioning. Broad spectrum interventions included psychoeducation regarding the impact of mood on memory, relaxation training, behavior modi® cation and cognitive restructuring of automatic thoughts. Participants also learned m em ory strategies which focused on information organizing and internal rehearsal. Use of these memory strategies as an alternative and complem ent to reliance on external m em ory strategies was repeatedly emphasized. A repeated m easures analysis of variance revealed that prospective m em ory perfor m ance im proved from pre-to post-testing (F(1,65)=10.05, p<0.01). No differences were observed between a group em ploying ecologically valid stimuli and another using laboratory-generated stimuli. Age-associated declines in prospective memory are potentially reversible; however, the full impact of the current intervention would need to be more thoroughly investigated in future studies with an adequate wait-list control group and attention to practice effects.

Realizing complex delayed intentions in young and old adults: The role of planning aids

“…From an applied perspective, this finding has important implications for the conceptualization of intervention programs regarding prospective memory in the aging (and potentially also clinical) populations. So far, only few studies have addressed the issue of improving prospective memory performance in normal aging and neuropsychological patients (e.g., Andrewes, Kinsella, & Murphy, 1996;Villa & Abeles, 2000). The present experiments provide empirical evidence favoring the inclusion of a planning component in prospective memory intervention programs.…”

Prospective Memory Training in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…After excluding these studies, we had 2,672 participants across 42 studies with enough details to calculate the average demographic statistics (weighted M age = 72.01 years, SD = 6.45, range = 50–94). 3 An additional 12 studies did not report sufficient data for calculating the number of participants in the training and control conditions separately 4 (Altgassen et al, 2015 ; Kinsella et al, 2016 ; Lee et al, 2013 ; McDougall, 2000 ; McFarland & Glisky, 2011 ; Niedźwieńska et al, 2014 ; Pereira et al, 2012 , 2015 , 2018 ; Schnitzspahn & Kliegel, 2009 ; Villa & Abeles, 2000 ; Zimmermann & Meier, 2010 ). As a result, the remaining 30 included studies 5 had 993 participants (weighted M age = 72.13 years, SD = 6.44, range = 50–93) in the training condition and 698 participants (weighted M age = 71.48 years, SD = 6.42, range = 50–94) in the control condition.…”

“…Fifty-eight interventions were extracted from the 48 included studies. Seven studies used two interventions (Chasteen et al, 2001 ; Lee et al, 2013 ; Niedźwieńska et al, 2014 ; Rebok et al, 1997 ; Schnitzspahn & Kliegel, 2009 ; Tsantali et al, 2017 ; Villa & Abeles, 2000 ) and one study used four interventions (Henry et al, 2020 ). Cavallini et al ( 2003 ) also used two interventions (i.e., loci mnemonic and strategic training), but separate data for each intervention were unavailable.…”

“…Not only does it promote training gains in PM, but it also transfers the training gains to everyday functioning and psychological well-being (Farzin et al, 2018 ). Likewise, studies that emphasise reflection or generalisation to everyday functioning have revealed positive training gains (Lee et al, 2013 ; Troyer, 2001 ; Tsantali et al, 2017 ; Villa & Abeles, 2000 ), likely because the application of these strategies to everyday activities consolidates the training gains. Another reason may be the training strategies used in the regimes.…”

A serious game – a new training addressing particularly prospective memory in the elderly

“…In addition to memory learning strategies, positive results were also attained with other methods such as relaxation and psychoeducation covering the influence of mood on memory functioning. Improvement was observed in PM tasks both in natural (ecological) and laboratory settings [50]. PM training elements are included as well in the 8-week training program, Exercise and Cognitive Training (EXACT), whose efficiency is currently being tested [45].…”