Besides aspects of physical and mental health and quality of life aspects the concept of social health is getting increasing attention in dementia research. Current research has led to a new umbrella concept of social health and first studies show relationships between social health markers and cognitive decline and dementia. But so far, no general overview exists how to measure social health in empirical studies.

The objective of this study therefore is to provide a systematic overview of instruments measuring aspects of social health and proposing a classification based on the new umbrella concept of social health.

Following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines a systematic review was conducted. The online search covered the databases PubMed/MEDLINE, PsychINFO, CINAHL within a publication period from 1st January 2000 till 15th October 2020 for English publications. To classify instruments a new multidimensional framework of social health was used.

A total of 150 studies with 68 single instruments were included into the study. A broad range of study types was covered (i.e., feasibility studies, cross-national panel studies) from all over the world, with the majority of studies being conducted in the USA. Most of the described instruments consist of self-report measures, but also proxy and hybrid tools were found. The length of the instruments in terms of the number of single items ranged from 3-126 items, with a median length of 13 items. On the individual level of social health with the three domains capacities, autonomy and social participation we classified 42 instruments and on the social environment level with the three domains structure, functions and appraisal we classified 53 instruments. A large part of the identified instruments only addresses single aspects of social health and does not address the multidimensionality of the concept.

A structured overview of measures related to the conceptual framework of social health can help develop appropriate interventions for people with dementia and improve the conditions for living well with dementia. Furthermore, the creation of new standardized and terminologically consistent measures of social health is one of the tasks for future research in the field of social health.

DISTINCT is a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network. Supported by the INTERDEM network and European Association of Geriatric Psychiatry, DISTINCT aimed to establish a multi-disciplinary, multi-professional and intersectorial European research framework, for assistive technologies to support social health in dementia. In this symposium, we present research associated with the maturity lifecycle (development to evaluation) of four technologies: the ROADMAP online self-management intervention; online peer support for people with young onset dementia; online acceptance and commitment therapy for caregivers (ACT); and the FindMyApps tablet-based intervention for people with dementia and their caregiver.

In 2019, 15 ESRs were recruited to 13 research organizations across 8 European countries. Research projects were launched in collaboration with people living with dementia and caregivers, and industry partners. Projects were adapted to meet challenges and opportunities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The projects presented in this symposium employed a variety of research paradigms (user-centred design, feasibility and implementation studies, randomized controlled trials). Key insights from each project were combined into best practice guidance for developers, researchers, healthcare professionals and people living with dementia, covering the full innovation lifecycle.

All DISTINCT research projects are now in the final stages, having so far resulted in more than 35 peer reviewed publications and many contributions to international conferences. Insights were incorporated into the Best Practice Guidance for Human Interaction with Technology in Dementia, published in December 2022, which will be updated by the end of 2023 with further insights from completed projects. Key findings presented in this symposium concern: development of ROAD MAP online; best practices for, and barriers to, online peer support; acceptability and preliminary effectiveness of online ACT; effectiveness and cost effectiveness of FindMyApps.

There is growing evidence that assistive technologies are feasible and effective for supporting social health of people with dementia and caregivers. People living with dementia, formal and informal caregivers, policymakers, designers, and researchers can refer to the DISTINCT Best Practice Guidance to inform their approach to assistive technology. Future research can build on these results, to further understand and improve usability, (cost-)effectiveness, and implementation of assistive technology in dementia.

The Forward with Dementia (FWD) project is a dementia awareness campaign that was implemented across five countries. The campaign included components such as websites (in four languages – www.forwardwithdementia.org), webinars, newsletters, and social media posts. This campaign is the fourth phase of a three-year longitudinal mixed methods study with five phases in five countries: Canada (New Brunswick, Ontario, Quebec), Australia, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and Poland. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the implementation and perceived impact of the FWD websites and campaign in the five participating countries.

The RE-AIM framework (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance) was used to guide the campaign evaluation. The evaluation was drawn from Google Analytics, surveys, individual interviews, and report cards. Data collection occurred between September 2021 and May 2022.

There were approximately 124,945 page views across all FWD websites during the campaign. Participants of the surveys and interviews reported engaging in a range of campaign activities. They read information about receiving a diagnosis, stories from persons with lived experience in dementia, news, and attended webinars (or watched recording). Most participants rated the information that they read on the website moderately, very, or extremely helpful. In addition, the majority of respondents said that they plan to visit the website again. During the interviews, participants shared that the website was easy to navigate, practical, and that it maintains a positive tone related to dementia. The co-design aspect of the campaign was considered a strength.

The findings indicate that the FWD campaign can provide support for people who have recently received a dementia diagnosis and their family or friends. In addition, the campaign may provide health and social care providers with a new source of information and tools to use and share with their clients. These results informed the development of a playbook to guide regions and countries beyond those involved in this project to implement similar initiatives.

Reminiscence therapy (RT) is a multi-sensory treatment that uses a combination of sight, touch, taste, smell and sound to help people with dementia (PWD) remember events, people and places from their past lives. Currently, digital technologies such as mobile applications and immersive solutions including virtual and augmented reality, are gaining momentum as supplementary tools for RT. This paper presents a usability study of a web-based and virtual reality application to understand the limitations and opportunities of digital platforms for facilitating engaging experiences for PWD towards recalling memories, while easing the therapy process for the caregivers.

A total of fifteen healthcare caregivers were recruited from the Geriatric Dementia Unit and Geriatric Transitional Unit in Ontario Shores Center for Mental Health Sciences, Ontario Canada. Usability feedback from the caregivers were collected from the interviews after the completion of the System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaire.

Healthcare caregivers found both web-based and virtual reality (VRRT) usable with SUS score above average (68/100), but required improvements related to the onboarding training of caregivers. The interview revealed four overarching themes related to the VRRT: (1) Ease of use; (2) Positive impact on caregiving; (3) Potential reduction in behavioral symptoms; (4) Feasibility of promoting social connection during COVID-19 pandemic.

Next steps will focus on improving the user experience and expanding the application for immersive VR supporting head-mounted displays, hand tracking, and physiological measures, as well as conducting a usability study with PWD to expand our understanding of using RT digital tools with various levels of immersion.

Suicidal behaviors represent a serious public health problem in terms of mortality, morbidity and social impact. Suicide in the elderly is a statistical reality little studied in the Latin American context. Method: It´s an observational study where we reviewed the records of the patients seen between January 2018 and December 2019 at the Psychogeriatrics Clinic of the Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz National Institute of Psychiatry; collecting sociodemographic, clinical information and evaluating the suicidal risk by the SAD PERSONS Scale. With the information obtained, we correlated variables with suicidal risk based on the Pearson and Spearman correlation indices.

A total of 404 files were reviewed, finding that in the last 5 years 1.4% of the patients had made a suicide attempt, what was directly related to a history of violence (r=0.256, p=0.011). Suicidal thoughts in the past year (15.4%) and increased suicidal risk were associated with PAS use (r=0.123, p=0.037) (r=0.207, p=0.001) and depressive disorder (r=0.148, p=0.012) (r=0.27, p=0.000).

In the older adult population, some of the clinical and sociodemographic factors associated with suicidal risk described for the general population could continue to be considered risk factors, among them: being male, low level of education, diagnosis of depressive disorder, having medical comorbidities and the use of SPA.

Major depression is one of the most widely recognized psychiatric disorders in cancer patients. In Spain,16.49% of cancer patients develop a Major Depressive Disorder. It arises as a reaction to a traumatic experience influenced by events and environmental conditions and develops as a consequence, of an adverse event, whether single or recurring. When depressive symptoms interfere with the proper functioning of cancer patients, antidepressants are the first line of treatment. We refer to Vortioxetine as the antidepressant of choice.

We present a 68-year-old patient diagnosed with Prostate Neoplasm (Gleason Grade 6 STAGE IV Adenocarcinoma) with Bone and Pulmonary Metastasis, who was referred, to the PADES Service of CSS Bernat Jaume, for poor pain control at the L5-L7 lumbar spine level. (VAS 9/10), immobility and depression after his prognostic information and short-term expectations.

We want to assess the usefulness of Vortioxetine for depression in cancer terminal patients. The diagnostic criteria for depressive disorder were evaluated according to the DSM-V(6) risk factors for depression in palliative patients. The Visual Analogue Scale for the evaluation of the pain (0 no pain and 10, unbearable pain). Previously used medications for pain control, and depression were assessed. It was decided to start treatment with Vortioxetine and assess the response.

We started Vortioxetine 5 mg for a week and appetite improved, as well as VAS 5/10. After fifteen days, he was able to walk, and his insomnia and anxiety decreased. He remained stable with the prescribed medication until, due to complications secondary to his oncological pathology, he was admitted to The Palliative Care Unit to begin sedation.

In terminal cancer patients with depression, it would be advisable to use Vortioxetine to improve their quality of life in situation of last days.

of this presentation are to:

• Describe the Chronic Grief Management Intervention-Video (CGMI-V) – an ongoing stage I clinical trial

• Describe the profile of the study sample using baseline data

to pilot-test the CGMI-V for establishing effect sizes in caregiver outcomes including chronic grief, symptoms of depression and anxiety, positive states of mind, satisfaction with care in the facility and conflict with staff.

Participants were randomized to either a control condition or to CGMI-V, a manualized intervention delivered on-line over eight consecutive weeks to family caregivers of persons diagnosed with dementia who were placed in long-term care. Caregivers were measured with standardized demographic and situational surveys (baseline only) and with the following instruments at weeks 8 and 24:

• Knowledge of Alzheimer’s (FKAT)

• Marwit-Meuser Caregiver Grief Inventory (MM-CGI)

• CES-D 20

• Family Perception of Caregiver Role

• Family Perception of Caregiving Tool

• State Trait Anxiety Instrument

• Positive States of Mind

Recruitment was conducted via direct contacts with facilities, radio and online advertising.

For the purposes of this presentation, we are reporting only baseline demographic and situational characteristics of the entire sample. Enrollment closed in November, 2022. The study remains open for follow-up only. The final sample size is 99 participants (Intervention=50; Control=49) recruited from across 14 states in the USA.

Sample characteristics illuminate similarities across dementia caregivers who placed family members with dementia in long-term facilities across 14 states in the USA. These findings may inform future grief interventions.

A national prevalence study of early-onset dementia in Japan has provided data on their challenges and support needs, as documented by the individual and their family members. This study examined differences between 1) cases that the onset of early-onset dementia was detected by work colleagues, and 2) other cases.

After identifying medical or long-term care service offices used by people with early-onset dementia in 12 regions in Japan, a questionnaire was distributed to the individuals and their family members. The items surveyed were age at the time of the survey, gender, employment at the onset, age when the initial symptoms were detected, the person who detected the initial symptoms, and consideration received at the workplace. In this report, only those who were working at the onset were included in the analysis. Next, they were divided into two groups according to whether the person who detected the initial symptoms was a colleague or not, and a chi-square test was used to compare the two groups. This study was conducted with the approval of the Ethics Committee of the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine.

Of the 1035 questionnaires collected, 559 were were working at the time of onset of initial symptoms, and 149 (26.7%) of these cases were initially detected by a colleague. Comparison between groups revealed that the cases detected by colleagues 1) were recommended to see an occupational physician (P<0.001), 2) were referred to a specialist (P<0.001), 3) received consideration such as reassignment in the workplace (P<0.001), 4) received consideration regarding transportation (P=0.023), 5) had someone to talk to in the workplace (P<0.001), and 6) were significantly unlikely to receive no consideration at all (P=0.010).

Early-onset dementia was noticed by a colleague due to an increase mistake in the workplace but may have received reasonable accommodations that could have been considered by each workplace. The results of this study may help to promote dementia-friendly workplace strategies.

evaluate the clinical outcomes for acute hospital patients with dementia, delirium or at risk for delirium supported by the person-centred volunteer program in australian rural hospitals.

a non-randomised, mixed methods, controlled trial.

older adults admitted to 7 rural acute hospitals. Intervention (n=270) patients were >65 years with a diagnosis of dementia and/or delirium or had risk factors for delirium and received volunteer services. Family carers (n=83) of intervention patients were interviewed. Staff survey and focus groups. Control (n=188) patients were randomly drawn from patients admitted to the same hospital 12 months prior to the volunteer program who would have met program eligibility criteria.

trained volunteers provided 1:1 person centred care with a focus on nutrition and hydration support, hearing and visual aids, activities, and orientation.

medical record audits provided data on volunteer visits, diagnoses, length of stay (los), behavioural incidents, readmission, specialling, mortality, admission to residential care, falls, pressure ulcers and medication use.

across all sites there was a significant reduction in rates of 1:1 specialling (p=.011) and 28 day readmission (p=.006) for patients receiving the volunteer intervention. Los was significantly shorter for the control group (p=.001). All other patient outcomes were equivalent for the intervention and control group (p>.05). Volunteers integrated themselves into the care team providing person-centred care, increased safety and quality of care and were an “extra pair of hands”, reducing care burden for staff and importantly for families: “for me, knowing someone was there … i can't even tell you what a benefit that was”. 98% of staff rated the program as supportive of them in their care

Enablers were clear processes for screening, training and supporting volunteers. Key challenges included initial role delineation, staff/volunteer trust and sustainability.

appropriately trained and supported volunteers are cost effective and can improve the safety and quality of care for hospitalised patients with cognitive impairment in rural hospitals.

Caregiving for a family member with dementia is a highly stressful situation that may last up to several years, and has been associated with symptoms of depression, anxiety, and sleep problems. These disorders frequently co-occur, with previous studies suggesting a bidirectional relationship between sleep and psychiatric disorders (i.e., anxiety and depression). Several models have highlighted the role of hyperarousal for understanding sleep disorders; however, there is little evidence about how sleep problems, depression and anxiety are linked together. Network analysis (NA) could help exploring the mechanisms underlying the associations between anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbances.

Participants were 368 family caregivers of a person with dementia. The depression-anxiety-sleep symptoms network was composed of 26 items. All the analyses were done using R (version 4.1.1).

Symptoms of tension, shakiness, restlessness, nervousness, and anxiety were strongly connected with the symptom feeling depressed. Symptoms of insomnia were connected to trouble focusing, which was linked to feeling that everything is an effort and apathy. The strongest nodes in the network were shakiness, tension, restlessness, nervousness, and restless sleep. Tension was the node with the most predictive power, while restless sleep was the node with the highest betweenness. Central stability coefficient showed adequate indices.

Hyperarousal symptoms (e.g., tension, restlessness) were the most strongly connected symptoms and showed close connection with symptoms of depression. The strength of these nodes suggests a prominent role of hyperarousal to maintaining, or even fueling, anxiety and depressive symptoms. Besides, our results invite the hypothesis that sleep problems may trigger symptoms specific to depression via fatigue or energy loss. Even though this study is limited by its cross-sectional design, it is the first to examine the network structure of the associations between symptoms of depression, anxiety, and sleep problems in a sample of informal caregivers, and to explore the role of hyperarousal in this network. Future studies should explore the temporal association between symptoms and the network dynamics, including response to the potential treatments.

Only a small proportion of older adults with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) seek professional help. One reason is the lack of access to mental health professionals licensed to provide psychotherapy. One way to improve access to psychotherapy is through guided self- help (GSH). GSH based on the principles of cognitive-behavior therapy (GSH-CBT) can be guided by trained lay providers (LPs). The purpose of this poster is to report preliminary results from a multisite randomized controlled trial testing the efficacy of a GSH-CBT guided by LPs for GAD in older adults.

The sample included 150 participants (≥ 60 years old) with a diagnosis of threshold or subthreshold GAD randomly assigned to: 1) GSH-CBT guided by LPs (n = 75) or 2) waiting list (n = 75). The GSH-CBT lasted 15 weeks. Participants used a manual presenting weekly reading and at-home exercises. They also received weekly support calls (30 minutes maximum) by LPs (undergraduate psychology students) supervised by psychologists. Repeated-measures regression models were used to compare changes in the groups before and after 15 weeks on three outcomes: severity of GAD symptoms (Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item; GAD-7), tendency to worry (Penn State Worry Questionnaire; PSWQ), and level of anxiety (Geriatric Anxiety Inventory; GAI).

At the first assessment, both groups were similar in terms of age, sex, level of education, marital status, occupation, and did not differ significantly on outcomes. The GSH- CBT group decreased significantly on all three outcomes (GAD-7: -4.8, 95% CI [-5.7, -3.8], PSWQ: -11.7; 95% CI [-13.6, -9.9], GAI: -5.3 95% CI [-6.5, -4.1]) while the waiting list group remained stable over 15 weeks (GAD-7: -0.3, 95% CI [-1.2, 0.6], PSWQ: 0.7; 95% CI [-1.2, 2.5], GAI: -0.7 95% CI [-1.9, -0.5]).

GSH-CBT guided by LPs appears to be an effective intervention for reducing severity of GAD symptoms, tendency to worry, and level of anxiety in older people with GAD. Further analyses will be conducted to test whether the intervention differs in efficacy between participants with a threshold vs. subthreshold GAD. The maintenance of long-term gains (6 and 12 months after the intervention) will also be tested.

The outcome of cartilage interposition ossiculoplasty was assessed in cases of incus necrosis after posterior malleus repositioning in the plane of the stapes, in terms of hearing gain after ossicular reconstruction.

A retrospective observational study was conducted of 30 patients admitted to an Ain Shams University hospital from March 2021 to September 2021. All patients with ossicular disruption due to chronic suppurative otitis media and hearing loss of more than 40 dB were included in the study. Pure tone audiometry was conducted for each patient after three months, six months and one year post operation.

The audiogram showed a post-operative air–bone gap of 20 dB or less in 83.33 per cent of patients (n = 25) at three months post-operatively and in 80 per cent of patients after six months; after one year, the results remained the same.

The use of cartilage interposition after malleus posterior mobilisation represents an excellent partial ossicular replacement technique.

New technologies have many benefits for the quality of life of older people, but their use also carries risks and can transforms older people in potential victims of cyber-attacks. The increase of ICT use has caused many older adults to be displaced from these social advances, resulting in greater isolation, negative feelings related to ICTs and less access to services.

Due to the absence of extensive and generalisable studies in this area with this population, we consider it necessary to analyse older people's behaviour in relation to ICT and the psychosocial variables that are related to their adaptation.

To determine the effect of different psychosocial variables that may be related to the adaptation to TIC and protection measures used in cyberspace in older adults.

We have used a mixed research methodology: Firstly, a quantitative pilot study, analysing the variables descriptively; secondly, using qualitative interviews and an exploratory analysis. The next step is to design and validate a questionnaire that will include the 4 factors that we found relevant: victimisation, use of new technologies, fear of cybercrime and use of online protection barriers.

The 84% of the sample uses ICT more than one hour per day and 77%, had not received training in TIC and their perception of online vulnerability is low. The need for social support for the management of these tools was observed. Older people who use ICT less are those who are not digitally literate, perceive themselves as more vulnerable in their use of ICTs and have no one to help them with these tools.

The identification of variables related to the use of TIC, the perception of vulnerability and the online protection of older adults is fundamental for the development of effective interventions. It would be desirable not only to offer them training in digitalisation but also to provide them with the social support they demand.

Cognitive impairment is a growing problem with increasing burden in ageing global population. Older adults with major depressive disorder (MDD) have higher risk of dementia during ageing. Neurofilament light chain (NfL) has been proven as a potential biomarker related to dementia. The present study aims to assess the cognitive deficits in older adults with MDD and investigate their association with peripheral blood levels of NfL.

We enrolled 39 individuals with MDD and 15 individuals with mild neurocognitive disorder or major neurocognitive disorder, Alzheimer’s type. Both groups were over age 65 and with restricted Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score. Demographic data, clinical variables, and plasma NfL levels were obtained. We used cluster analysis according to their cognitive profile and estimated the correlation between plasma NfL levels and cognitive impairment in each domain.

In the MDD group, participants have higher rate of family psychiatry history and higher rate of current alcohol use habit compared with patients with neurocognitive disorders. In the neurocognitive disorders group, participants showed significantly lower score in total MMSE and higher plasma NfL levels. Part of the MDD patients presented cognitive deficits similar to that of neurocognitive disorders (cluster A). In cluster A, the total MMSE score (r=-0.58277, p=0.0287) and the comprehension domain (r=-0.71717, p=0.0039) were negatively correlated to NfL levels after adjusting for age, while the associations had not been observed in the other cluster.

We noted the negative correlation between NfL levels and cognitive performance in MDD patients whose cognitive manifestation were more similar to that of degenerative neurocognitive disorders. NfL might be a potential marker to predict patients with MDD to develop cognitive decline especially in domains typically found in Alzheimer’s disease. Further longitudinal studies are required to validate our findings for clinical implications.

Despite the high prevalence of anxiety and depression, many family carers of people living with dementia are not able to access timely psychological support due to various barriers such as lack of respite care and a shortage of skilled therapists. Online treatments have the potential to improve access, and also scalability, reducing inequalities in access to care. This uncontrolled feasibility study aimed to evaluate whether it is feasible to deliver internet- delivered guided self-help Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (iACT4CARERS) within primary and secondary care services in the UK, and whether the intervention is acceptable to family carers of people living with dementia.

Family carers of people living with dementia presenting with mild to moderate anxiety or depression were recruited through healthcare services and public advertisements. Participants were offered eight, guided, self-help online ACT sessions adapted for the needs of family carers. Participants were also allocated a therapist who responded to questions to support their completion of each weekly session. Participants completed questionnaires assessing anxiety, depression and other outcomes before and after the intervention. They were also invited to attend an individual semi-structured interview to provide feedback on iACT4CARERSE at the end of the study.

Seventy-nine participants attended the screening session over six months, and 33 eligible participants (age range 47-85) received iACT4CARERS. Further, 70% of participants completed seven or all eight sessions, and 27% of participants were lost to follow-up, but none of the reasons for early withdrawal was related to the intervention. There was preliminary evidence of improvements in anxiety, depression and psychological flexibility, particularly in anxiety, which demonstrated an average reduction of 26% on the GAD7 anxiety scale. The results of qualitative interviews suggested that iACT4CARERS is acceptable to family carers. Positive carer experiences were particularly facilitated by the relatedness of the contents, increased feelings of connectedness and the user-friendliness of the online platform.

The feasibility study provided evidence for the feasibility and acceptability of iACT4CARERS. This feasibility study led to an ongoing full-scale randomised controlled trial testing the clinical and cost effectiveness of iACT4CARERS. Recent developments of the iACT4CARERS project will be discussed.