Cognitive Intervention Working Group

Cognitive Interventions Working Party

Members	Role	Affiliation and location
Professor Sharon Naismith	Convenor	NHMRC Leadership II Fellow & Lead, Australian Dementia Network Memory Clinics Initiative, University of Sydney
Associate Professor Kerryn Pike	Chair	Clinical Neuropsychologist, Griffith University
Associate Professor Alex Bahar-Fuchs	Co-Chair	NHMRC Boosting Dementia Leadership Principal Fellow, Deakin University and Clinical Neuropsychologist
Dr Loren Mowszowski	Operations Manager	NHMRC Boosting Dementia Leadership Principal Fellow, University of Sydney and Clinical Neuropsychologist
Ms Alessandra Lee	PhD Student	Ms Alessandra Lee is conducting this study as the basis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Science) at the University of Sydney
Dr Inga Mehrani	ADNeT Support	ADNeT-MC National Program Manager, University of New South Wales
Professor Alison Hutchison	Implementation Science Expert	Alfred Deakin Professor, Deakin University & Chair in Nursing, Barwon Health

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Cognitive Interventions Pilot Project

An increasing number of high-quality evidence shows that cognitive interventions (e.g. LaTCH Memory Group Program) can produce benefits for cognition and general wellbeing in older adults, including those with or at risk of dementia.  Unfortunately, these interventions are not routinely offered in memory and cognition clinics.  Apart from limited financial and human resources, clinicians also cite a lack of clinician training and confidence as barriers to offering cognitive interventions routinely.

To address this, the Working Party decided to adopt a structured approach to implementation to address this gap between research and practice and we are conducting a pilot feasibility study to implement cognitive intervention in Australian memory and cognition clinics.  This study comprises:

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      (a) a cognitive intervention clinician training toolkit and a one-day training workshop to up-skill and support clinicians in delivering a variety of intervention techniques to suit various client presentations/needs, and

      (b) evaluation of how these interventions are implemented within participating memory and cognition clinics (6-month initial implementation period and 12-month follow-up).

The study is currently underway.  We have 6 memory clinics participating from around Australia, and 17 clinicians completed the clinician training toolkit and one-day training workshop. We are currently within our 6-month supported implementation period, and expect to be able to report results in 2024.

We are planning to build on our learning from this project and scale-up to other memory clinics, so please get in touch if you are interested in finding out more.

Funding

This study was supported by the Australian Dementia Network, funded by the NHMRC National Institute for Dementia Research – Boosting Dementia Grant (grant number: APP1152623). $101,831, for 1 year (1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023).

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