The Training Effects of Tinkering Activities on Cognitive Flexibility in Older Adults From Communities

NCT ID: NCT05358145

Last Updated: 2025-01-22

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 118 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2021-02-22
• Study Completion Date: 2024-07-29

Brief Summary

Aging has been a serious global-wise concern in public health. In particular, elders face declination of cognitive functions that threaten their quality of life. A good approach to slow down cognitive declination during aging processes is therefore in urgent need. According to the Successful Aging model (Rowe, J.W. and Kahn, R.L) participation in meaningful occupational activity may maintains high cognitive and body function. This sub-project is a part of the larger integrated project that will address the need for cognitive promotion by conducting cognitive training interventions on community older adults, utilizing the National Taiwan Science Education Center (NTSEC) as the public recruiting site as well as intervention site. In this sub-project, a 12-week intervention will be carried out with three protocols: 1) Tinkering activities, 2)Controlled Tinkering Activities, and 3) Board Game intervention. Board games serve as a commonly seen cognitive training, with a growing series of literature continuing to support board games being the medium of cognitive promotion. Tinkering activities are primarily used in fields of education that comprise science, art, and technology. Through a series of themes objectives, participants can involve interestingly, creatively, and flexibly in the activity when the participants fulfill the goal with the materials retrievable at the site. The anticipation is that the elders participating in Tinkering activities may increase their cognitive flexibility as the participants involve in the elements hidden within the core of the training, such as problem exploration, active thinking and inference, trial and error, and problem-solving. The investigators target to obtain pre-and post-intervention behavioral and neurophysiological data, including electroencephalogram data in 40 experimental participants, 40 active control participants, and 40 passive control participants over a period of 3 years.

Conditions

Cognitive Training

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: BASIC_SCIENCE
• Blinding Strategy: TRIPLE

Study Groups

Tinkering

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Tinkering Activities

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Tinkering activities are activities that comprise elements of science, art, and technology. Through a series of themes objectives, participants can involve interestingly, creatively, and flexibly in the activity when they fulfill the goal with the materials retrievable at the site. Participants will be trained as they involve in the elements hidden within the core of the training, such as problem exploration, active thinking and inference, trial and error, and problem-solving.

Control Tinkering

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Control Tinkering Activities

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Controlled Tinkering Activities utilize the themes of Tinkering activities but eliminate the core of Tinkering training, hence implementing a new set of activities that emphasize participants strictly follow procedures to complete the similar objective of Tinkering activities. Each participant will end up with a similar piece of work as Tinkering Activities participants would without problem exploration, active thinking and inference, trial and error, and problem-solving.

Board Games

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Board Games Activities

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Board games are often constructed with concepts of different cognitive components, such as attention, working memory, planning, calculation; therefore serve as a commonly seen cognitive training, while more and more literature continues to support tabletop games being the medium of cognitive promotion.

Interventions

Tinkering Activities

Tinkering activities are activities that comprise elements of science, art, and technology. Through a series of themes objectives, participants can involve interestingly, creatively, and flexibly in the activity when they fulfill the goal with the materials retrievable at the site. Participants will be trained as they involve in the elements hidden within the core of the training, such as problem exploration, active thinking and inference, trial and error, and problem-solving.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Control Tinkering Activities

Controlled Tinkering Activities utilize the themes of Tinkering activities but eliminate the core of Tinkering training, hence implementing a new set of activities that emphasize participants strictly follow procedures to complete the similar objective of Tinkering activities. Each participant will end up with a similar piece of work as Tinkering Activities participants would without problem exploration, active thinking and inference, trial and error, and problem-solving.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Board Games Activities

Board games are often constructed with concepts of different cognitive components, such as attention, working memory, planning, calculation; therefore serve as a commonly seen cognitive training, while more and more literature continues to support tabletop games being the medium of cognitive promotion.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Literate in Mandarin and Taiwanese
• Willing to participate entirely in this research.
• Age >65

Exclusion Criteria

• Participated in cognitive-related training in the past two months.
• Severe impairment of visual or auditory abilities.
• Diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), or Dementia
• Severe psychological or behavioral disorder that would seriously interfere with the progress of activity
• History of degenerative cognitive disorder (e.g., acute stroke, traumatic brain injury, unconscious), organic mental disorders, brain dysfunction, or other neurology-related diagnoses.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 65 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan

OTHER_GOV

Sponsor Role: collaborator

National Taiwan University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

National Taiwan Science Education Center

UNKNOWN

Sponsor Role: collaborator

National Taiwan University Hospital

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Hui-Fen Mao, M.S.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

National Taiwan University

Locations

College of Medicine, National Taiwan University

Taipei, , Taiwan

National Taiwan Science Education Center

Taipei, , Taiwan

Countries

Taiwan

Other Identifiers

202010050RINB

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id