PRESERVING INDEPENDENCE
If you or your loved one is worrying about possible cognitive changes related to age,
you are not alone. Between 25 to 50 per cent of older adults living in the community
report minor cognitive issues and everyday life difficulties, such as struggling to
keep up with technological changes and maintaining an active social life. These
individuals face a higher risk of developing dementia.
Dr. Deirdre Dawson is using Real World Strategy Training (RWST) to help older adults
preserve their independence for longer.
"We believe RWST can support people before their ability to perform everyday
tasks significantly declines," says Dr. Dawson. "RWST helps people learn an overall
strategy to manage specific tasks in their everyday life. This strategy can then be
expanded to new difficulties when they arise."
This intervention has shown promising results and could potentially be scalable. In a
recent pilot study using RWST on adults aged 65+ who self-identified with cognitive
decline, Dr. Dawson found that 61.5% of participants' goals were achieved through
use of the intervention.
Thanks to support from a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Project Grant,
Dr. Dawson has launched a clinical trial in collaboration with Baycrest's Wagman
Centre staff and community members to evaluate RWST among older adults with
self-identified minor cognitive issues.
DR. DEIRDRE
DAWSON
Awarded the
Mitchell Rosenthal
Mid-Career Award
by the American
Congress of
Rehabilitation
Medicine for
significant
contributions
to brain injury
rehabilitation
research.
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