Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) affect more than 10% of
adults who are age 65 and older, but the toll of ADRD is most devastating among
older African Americans. COVID-19 widened these disparities; in addition to
being more susceptible to COVID-19 infection and fatalities, older African
Americans are more likely to experience digital and technical inequities. This puts
them at risk for the development/worsening of depression, anxiety, cognitive
impairment and sleep disturbances.
This project will evaluate several traditional and mobile health tools for
remotely monitoring the effects of social isolation on cognition and mental
health in older African Americans with baseline cognitive complaints. By
testing three different strategies, we will identify the most effective,
feasible and subject-preferred approach to collecting cognitive and mental
health data which will help address brain health disparities.
More than a million people in the US sustain a mild traumatic brain injury
(mTBI) every year, and many report difficulties with attention, memory and
other thinking abilities months and even years following their injury. A promising
treatment option is cognitive rehabilitation, but the full-length (20 hours),
in-person intervention is not feasible for many people due to time and
financial constraints.
This study will evaluate a brief (6 hours), virtual cognitive rehabilitation
intervention developed for individuals with persisting cognitive difficulties
after mTBI. We will evaluate several outcomes related to improving patient care
including treatment satisfaction, feasibility of this intervention when using
telehealth and preliminary effectiveness. The proposed treatment aims to
provide the same clinical impact of traditional cognitive rehabilitation while
reducing burden and increasing access.
To evaluate the use of an existing selective suicide prevention intervention, Preventing Addiction Related Suicide (PARS), for use with Veterans by: 1) adapting and tailoring content to Veteran populations and 2) conducting an open trial within a VA substance use disorder intensive outpatient program.
The proposed research will be a preliminary investigation into the potential association between microbiota abundance, hormone levels, peripheral inflammation and current symptoms (psychiatric and cognitive) in Veterans with and without a history of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). This work has the potential to form a new line of research that could ultimately provide new treatment options for individuals who have persisting symptoms following mTBI.
Several recent studies have found that for evidence-based psychosocial interventions (EBPIs) to be delivered more effectively, sustained quality, ongoing supervision, and guidance is critical.
This study will develop an electronic support tool to support quality delivery of PST that is based on clinician feedback. We hypothesize that supporting clinician delivery of EBPIs will result in enhanced quality of treatment and better patient outcomes.
