Evaluation of the Wits Workout Wellness Program for Older Adults

NCT ID: NCT04928885

Last Updated: 2024-03-20

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 285 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2021-07-07
• Study Completion Date: 2022-08-30

Brief Summary

About 11% of the U.S. older adult population is at risk for or suffers from subjective cognitive decline. While some factors such as genetics and habitual physiological changes that affect brain health cannot be changed, research has shown that lifestyle changes such as participation in regular physical activity, staying socially engaged, and managing stress and diet can help to delay or reduce cognitive decline. Yet few brain health promotion programs exist and those that do fail to focus on global health and wellness as a strategy to improve brain health. Wits Workout is a holistic, 12-session, 60-minute per session, multi-modal workshop series that offers adults ages 50 and older facilitated, interactive dialogue and activities about behaviors that promote brain health. Each week includes a different themed module which has four activities and a training component.

Detailed Description

While research has shown that lifestyle changes such as participation in regular physical activity, staying socially engaged, and managing stress can help to delay or reduce cognitive decline, few cognitive brain health programs exist. Those that do are targeted to a specific audience (i.e., Alzheimer's and related dementias) and primarily focus on one health domain (i.e. physical activity, diet) without the additional focus on multi-dimensions of health, which can also include intellectual engagement, social isolation, stress, sleep, and self-efficacy. Thus, there is a need for a more holistic cognitive health program aimed toward the general older adult population and particularly those that are underserved due to geographic location.

Wits Workout, is a multi-modal 12-session (60 min/week) workshop series designed to enhance brain health among people ages 50 and older. Wits Workout addresses multiple factors that affect cognitive health such as physical activity, diet, intellectual engagement, social isolation, stress, sleep, and self-efficacy. The holistic workshop series is designed to be lay-leader led, interactive, and experiential. Preliminary evaluations demonstrate that this educational series serves a need in reducing isolation, increasing physical activity, promoting intellectual engagement, and enhancing overall brain health in older participants, all of which complement current aging brain health research. The researchers propose to conduct a two-arm randomized controlled trial with a treatment (workshop) group (n=120) and wait-list control group (n=120) who will receive the program after the 6-month study period is completed.

Conditions

Cognitive Decline; Social Isolation; Health Behaviors; Self Efficacy

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: PREVENTION
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

WW Treatment Group

Individuals will receive the 12-week Wits Workout Program. Individuals will take the baseline, 3 mos and 6 mos follow-up surveys. They will also take the Wits Workout satisfaction survey and participate in the 6 mos focus-groups.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Wits Workout Program

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

12 week, one hour per week multi-modal, interactive training.

WW Control Group

Individuals will be on a waitlist and will take the baseline, 3 mos and 6 mos. assessments. They will receive the Wits Workout workshop after the 6 month study period is completed.

Group Type: OTHER

Control Group that receives intervention after the study

Intervention Type: OTHER

The control group will not receive the intervention during study period but will take baseline, 3 mos and 6 mos surveys. They will complete the workshop after the study period is over.

Interventions

Wits Workout Program

12 week, one hour per week multi-modal, interactive training.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Control Group that receives intervention after the study

The control group will not receive the intervention during study period but will take baseline, 3 mos and 6 mos surveys. They will complete the workshop after the study period is over.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• 50 years or older
• English-speaking and/or able to understand English
• Have no diagnosis of Alzheimer's or related dementia
• Score 28 or higher on the TICS cognitive screening
• Able to participate in the 12 week program
• Have not previously participated in a Wits Workout program

Exclusion Criteria

• Under age 50,
• Unable to speak or understand English,
• Have a diagnosis of Alzheimer's or related dementia,
• Score lower than 28 on TICS
• Plan to miss more than two weeks of the program (i.e. traveling during that time period)
• Have previously participated in a Wits Workout program.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 50 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

National Institute on Aging (NIA)

NIH

Sponsor Role: collaborator

University of Illinois at Chicago

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Julie L Bobitt

Assistant Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Julie Bobitt, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Illinois at Chicago

Locations

University of Illinois at Chicago

Chicago, Illinois, United States

Countries

United States

Provided Documents

Document Type: Study Protocol and Statistical Analysis Plan

View Document

Document Type: Informed Consent Form

View Document

Other Identifiers

P30AG022849

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: secondary_id

View Link

2021-0305

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id