New NIA-Funded Research Opportunity for Caregivers of Persons with AD
Recruitment Partners is excited to be supporting researchers at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and Northwestern University (Chicago) in their evaluation of a program for adult family caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s Disease.
The program is designed to increase levels of positive emotion, which in turn can help lower stress and support ways of coping with the stresses of caregiving.
The research study is titled LEAF (Life Enhancing Activities for Family Caregivers) and is funded by a grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA).
To be eligible:
– Participants must be the primary caregiver of someone with Alzheimer’s disease
– Must be English-speaking
– Must have access to Wi-Fi Internet as the program is conducted online — a tablet computer will be supplied for the study
Participants will receive a positive-emotions building program and will take part in an hour-long learning session once a week for six weeks to learn the skills, plus short home practice activities and online surveys.
Do you have caregivers in your network that may benefit from participating in this positive emotion research? Email us to receive a copy of the study flyer and to discuss best ways to connect caregivers to the study.
To read more about the study, visit https://leafstudy.ucsf.edu/.
Healthy Heart = Healthy Brain
February is American Heart Month, a time when all people should be reminded that what is good for your heart is good for your brain!
What can you do to help maintain a healthy brain and heart?
Follow the Simple 7:
1) Manage Blood Pressure
2) Control Cholesterol
3) Reduce Blood Sugar
4) Get Active
5) Eat Better
6) Lose Weight
7) Stop Smoking
For more tips, visit the American Heart Associations Brain Health page here or watch the AARP sponsored video below.
What’s Happening in the Alzheimer’s Field?
Dementia and Covid risk
A recent study revealed that people with dementia were more likely to contract, be hospitalized, and die from Covid-19, as opposed to others in their cohort. More shocking, Black people with dementia were nearly 3 times as likely to be infected. An expert not involved in the study highlighted that the study only included people who had interacted with the healthcare system, so did not include poorer and more isolated individuals. Consequently, the study may have underestimated the true impact of Covid-19 on those with dementia. Read more here.
Re-purposed treatments
Many drug therapies began their journey with patients of a different disease or disorder. As an FDA-approved drug, a re-purposed treatment has an already established safety profile, making the clinical trial process shorter. Researchers at Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health recently received over $4 million in grants to study the effects of an anti-cancer treatment on early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers will test if the cancer drug will reduce inflammation and improve cognition. Read more here.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
In honor of Black History Month, the Alzheimer’s Association-Illinois Chapter will discuss racial disparities in disease research Feb. 25. This virtual seminar will examine why it is important that study populations in clinical research reflect the diversity of the overall population, and what can happen when this is not the case.
For more information and to register, visit the chapter’s website here.
Visit Recruitment Partners on the web or click on the video link below to discover how we are working to increase diversity.
Interested in learning how RP makes connections between care communities and researchers?
Email us today for more information and to join or mailing list!