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Reminiscence therapy is a non-invasive, non-pharmacological intervention that has been shown to improve cognition, mood, functional status, quality of life, and apathy in older adults. Group reminiscence therapy combines structured social engagement and recounting of personal stories that address both social connection (a risk factor for cognitive decline) and cognition. Life story club© (LSC) is an established, non-profit organization that provides virtual, group reminiscence therapy for older adults to reduce loneliness and promote a sense of belonging and has not been formally studied.
This study aims to enroll 300 participants who will be assigned to one of three 3 groups. Each group will receive an intervention lasting 6, weekly sessions of 40-60 minutes. Eligibility include having an opioid use disorder and reporting loneliness or feeling alone or disconnected.
Older adult participants will engage in exercise videos twice a week for 8 weeks either while paired with a peer (same age group) or paired with a younger adult with the ability to simultaneously video chat while exercising.
More than 60% of care partners of persons with AD/ADRD report feeling lonely. Building on the existing evidence that increasing meaning and purpose in life is a strong predictor of decreased loneliness, interventions to reduce loneliness in this population may be strengthened by incorporating concepts from Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy (MCP). Thus, the overall goal of the proposed project is to reduce loneliness in care partners of patients with AD/ADRD through increasing their sense of meaning and purpose in life using concepts from MCP, delivered via a web-based platform, RELOAD-C (REducing LOneliness in Alzeheimer's Disease-Care Partners). This will be achieved through three Specific Aims. Aim 1 consists of three phases (preparatory work, stakeholder involvement with N=15 AD/ADRD care partners, and adaptation of the existing web-based platform) to produce RELOAD-C, which centralizes: 1) 6 brief videos portraying an MCP expert delivering MCP concepts; 2) links to 7 virtual group meetings (6 weekly + 1 booster) to discuss MCP concepts (of note, the support groups utilized in this study exist only as part of this research); and 3) written content expanding on the material from the MCP videos. Aim 2 evaluates usability/acceptability of RELOAD-C (defined as a task success rate ≥ 78%, and scores ≥ 68 on the System Usability Scale) with N=20 care partners of persons with AD/ADRD. Aim 3 proposes a pilot RCT to evaluate the preliminary efficacy of the RELOAD-C components (MCP videos vs. MCP-focused group discussions) in reducing loneliness and feasibility of conducting a future, large-scale RCT. N=96 AD/ADRD care partners will be randomized to: usual care, n=32; MCP videos alone via RELOAD-C, n=32; or MCP videos + weekly groups via RELOAD-C, n=32. Care partners' outcomes will be assessed at baseline, and 6-weeks and 3-months post-baseline. The investigators expect the effect sizes will be in the moderate range (.3). Feasibility is defined as: ≥ 75% consented, ≤ 30% drop-out, and 80% engagement with intervention. Reducing loneliness among care partners is of high public health significance and incorporating MCP in loneliness interventions is highly innovative. In sum, the investigators will enroll 15 care partners during Aim 1, 20 care partners during Aim 2, and 96 care partners during Aim 3.
The proposed research will test the hypothesis that objective social isolation and loneliness are linked to neurobehavioral mechanisms involved in social perception and motivation in individuals with and without serious mental illness. Moreover, it will investigate the specific dynamic interactions among these experiences in daily life and how they, and their neurobehavioral predictors, are linked to day-to-day functioning. The findings of this project could provide novel targets for therapeutics aimed at improving functioning and overall quality of life in individuals with serious mental illnesses, as well as quantitative phenotypes for use in early detection efforts.
People with a history of Opioid Use Disorder and criminal justice involvement are more likely to experience loneliness following release from jail/prison leading to negative outcomes such as treatment dropout and increased substance use. Providing peer recovery support, particularly through a highly accessible, digital health platform, is a potential way to decrease loneliness in this population. The current study seeks to test whether a mobile peer recovery support app, delivered to individuals with a recent history of taking medication for opioid use disorder while in jail/prison, will improve outcomes for this vulnerable population.
Assess the impact of a remote, app-delivered digital meditation intervention on emotional well-being of lonely older adults. Neuroimaging, electrophysiological (EEG), and autonomic physiology will be used to assess the neural correlates of the intervention. EEG and autonomic physiology will be collected while participants watch 30 min of an awe-inspiring movie. fMRI and autonomic physiology will be collected in the context of a social exploration/exploitation task.
Nearly half of the U.S. population sometimes or always experiences loneliness, which is alarming given that loneliness confers risk for negative mental and physical health outcomes. Extensive research suggests loneliness is characterized by subjective isolation: many lonely individuals maintain a number of relationships but still report feeling lonely. The goal of this proposal is to use functional magnetic resonance imaging to reveal how the brain represents our subjective connection to and isolation from other people, which will ultimately inform optimal ways to intervene to reduce loneliness.
The goal of this study is to understand how children's mobile device usage (smartphones or tablets), including social media use and online games, are related to their mental wellness and mental health, as well as some aspects of their physical activity and sleep. This study is available to all children between the ages of 8 and 17 years and a parent/caregiver. Researchers will compare participant mobile device usage with their survey responses on sleep, stress, mental health, and physical activity, as well as their parent/caregiver's survey responses. Participants will: * run the Aura app with parental controls on their dedicated mobile device * complete monthly surveys * answer daily questions on mood, stress, sleep and physical activity The study is fully virtual. Duration is 3 months.
VOICES Veterans Socials (VS) support Veterans in the community through weekly social groups. Veterans socials have the potential to improve social functioning, mental health symptoms, and create lasting social support. This project aims to evaluate and improve Veterans Socials to help older Veterans with depression by adapting materials, interviewing VS attendees, and collecting questionnaires. The goal is to improve the program based on the results for future use and research.