| Summary: |
Cognitive stimulation (CS) - structured and regular training of cognitive function in specific domains - benefits the health and well-being of older adults without adverse effects. The traditional format of CS engages a face-to-face interaction between user and technician with paper-and-pencil activities. This type of stimulation is costly, especially in terms of human resources (technicians), thus preventing many older adults from accessing the benefits of CS. The emergence of computerized cognitive stimulation (CCS) has largely contributed to cut down costs related to human resources, but there are still many challenges to address: accessibility (providing older adults with access to technologies), social interaction (CCS tends to be solitary), meaningfulness (CS exercises do not prioritise the relevance of topics for older adults) and empowerment (CS does not engage a purpose beyond preserving one's health and does not boost social participation).
Acknowledging the logistic advantages of CCS, we have recently created an online platform, which we named CerUp, where eight different activities for CS are freely available. The activities were inspired by a lexico-semantic stimulation programme, designed to improve semantically structured episodic memory. In the dissemination of CerUp, we tried to address the challenges of accessibility - by engaging institutional technicians as human facilitators of digital usability, and social interaction - by promoting group dynamics when implementing CerUp. CerUp is currently under usability analysis.
The present project represents an attempt to go further and introduce meaningfulness and empowerment. To that end, we will take the current version of our programme - a consumer version, in the sense that users respond to stimulation materials - and turn into a creator version, where users are invited to create new stimulation materials for other users, following precise guidelines. Creating stimul  |
Summary
Cognitive stimulation (CS) - structured and regular training of cognitive function in specific domains - benefits the health and well-being of older adults without adverse effects. The traditional format of CS engages a face-to-face interaction between user and technician with paper-and-pencil activities. This type of stimulation is costly, especially in terms of human resources (technicians), thus preventing many older adults from accessing the benefits of CS. The emergence of computerized cognitive stimulation (CCS) has largely contributed to cut down costs related to human resources, but there are still many challenges to address: accessibility (providing older adults with access to technologies), social interaction (CCS tends to be solitary), meaningfulness (CS exercises do not prioritise the relevance of topics for older adults) and empowerment (CS does not engage a purpose beyond preserving one's health and does not boost social participation).
Acknowledging the logistic advantages of CCS, we have recently created an online platform, which we named CerUp, where eight different activities for CS are freely available. The activities were inspired by a lexico-semantic stimulation programme, designed to improve semantically structured episodic memory. In the dissemination of CerUp, we tried to address the challenges of accessibility - by engaging institutional technicians as human facilitators of digital usability, and social interaction - by promoting group dynamics when implementing CerUp. CerUp is currently under usability analysis.
The present project represents an attempt to go further and introduce meaningfulness and empowerment. To that end, we will take the current version of our programme - a consumer version, in the sense that users respond to stimulation materials - and turn into a creator version, where users are invited to create new stimulation materials for other users, following precise guidelines. Creating stimulation materials becomes itself a form of cognitive stimulation (of users, now creators), which adds divergent thinking to the cognitive dimensions already engaged in the programme. Posting the newly created items online and connecting several groups of older adults all over the country will promote social interaction at a larger scale.
Regarding implementation strategies, Institutions and technicians will be crucial to achieve the goal of feeding the CerUp platform with the new items generated by older adults. They will be responsible for implementing the process under our supervision, and they will choose whether they prefer to conduct individual or group sessions. To maximise their engagement, we will put extra care on the quality of the instructions on how to guide older adults to generate items, on our permanent availability to clarify doubts and discuss problems, as well as on the acknowledgement of the work from both technicians and older adults.
Concerning evaluation, our focus will be put on adherence - adherence from creators (based on the number of generated items and participants engaged) and adherence from users to the newly created items (based on responses made on the site). We will also be interested in determining the preferred mode of implementation - individual vs. group - to evaluate the impact of our programme on social interaction. Finally, to have a first grasp on how we may have increased empowerment in older adults, we will analyse participants' perceptions of challenge and engagement when taking part in the activities, as well as reports of perceived cognitive, affective and social benefits.
This project aims to plant a seed for greater empowerment and participation in older adults. The fact that items created by one group of older adults are made available online for other groups (at the platform and announced at social media), at different parts of the country, will be a first step in promoting a virtual network of older adults. In the mid-long term, this may substantiate a more structured system wherein older adults increase their social presence, participation, and sense of purpose. |