iCareWean

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Managing stress and cognitive difficulties with a short mindfulness-based intervention in old adults with subjective cognitive complaints

• IRAS ID

  219501

• Contact name

  Marcela Vizcaychipi

• Contact email

  m.vizcaychipi@imperial.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

• Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier

  not yet assigned , ClinicalTrials.gov ID: C&W1234

• Duration of Study in the UK

  0 years, 6 months, 27 days

• Research summary

  The proposed study will evaluate the effects of a short mindfulness intervention in old adults with subjective cognitive complaints. Management of emotional difficulties associated with anxiety and stress can improve psychological well-being in sufferers, and in turn can enhance cognitive capacity to maximise function. Mindfulness interventions are gentle, non-invasive and cost effective techniques that have been designed for stress reduction, that have been associated with improvements in mood, stress, pain management and overall well-being in a range of clinical and healthy populations. In addition mindfulness interventions have also been shown to improve cognitive function and emotion regulation by enhancing attentional awareness, attentional flexibility and attentional capacity. However, very few studies to date focus on elderly participants and no study to date has tried to shorten the current 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction training in old adult populations.
  20 participants, 65 years and older, will be recruited; 10 participants will be randomly allocated into the mindfulness intervention and 10 into an active control condition ("Age Well" psycho-education course). All participants will be recruited in London. The mindfulness course and the psycho-education course will both take 4 consecutive weeks, with one session each week. Physiological measures assessed will include sampling hair for cortisol analysis of stress hormone cortisol. Psychological and cognitive measures will involve self-report, validated questionnaires such as for example the Perceived Stress Scale, and the Trail Making Task. Assessment sessions of these measures will take place at three different time points to assess the effect of the short mindfulness intervention on stress. The research is being funded by the Imperial College Alzheimer's Network, London.

• REC name

  London - Riverside Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  17/LO/1049

• Date of REC Opinion

  1 Aug 2017

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion