Proposed Topic (Most preferred): :
HA Young Investigators Session (Projects to be presented by HA staff who had joined HA for 10 years or less)
Proposed Topic (Second preferred): :
Clinical Safety and Quality Service III (Projects aiming at quality service to patients and their carers)
Authors (including presenting author) :
Law CCC (1), Leung SC (1)
Affiliation :
(1) Occupational Therapy Department (OTD), Kowloon Hospital (KH)
Introduction :
After the outbreak of COVID, there was an increasing number of clients with both mood symptoms and memory complaints referring to KH OTD (psychiatry) service. These complaints are deemed as common long COVID conditions, while both are associated with poor psychosocial functioning. Remediation of cognitive concerns and alleviation of mood symptoms were evidenced to play an important role in improving quality of life. Therefore, the lifestyle intervention program (LS-MCI), providing psychoeducation and guiding lifestyle redesign, was developed for targeted elderly clients in our department.
Objectives :
To evaluate the effectiveness of LS-MCI on cognitive and well-being status of targeted participants for service enhancement.
Methodology :
LS-MCI is a program of OTD (psychiatry) service for elderly outpatient with MCI and/or subjective memory complaints. The program aimed to promote wellbeing and independence in daily living for participants. It consists of 8 sessions, providing pertinent psychoeducation in memory or health related knowledge, facilitation in problem identification, and formulation of action plan for habit establishment and modification. Cognitive function was measured via HK-MoCA, while World Health Organization – Five Well-Being Index (WHO-5) and qualitative feedback were used to evaluate the well-being status. Quantitative and qualitative outcome measures were collected before and after the program for data comparison.
Result & Outcome :
Result
From January 2022 to December 2023, 27 clients with a mean age of 76.3 were recruited. Significant improvement on subjective well-being level was found by WHO-5 (t(26) = -2.208, p < .05). Cognitive functioning was maintained as showed by HK-MoCA results (t(17) = 1.085, p=.293). Qualitative feedback demonstrated increased insight and self-efficacy in self-management. Most participants developed new habits and initiated changes in lifestyle. Furthermore, they expressed enhanced home safety through introducing memory techniques and aids learnt in the program. Peer support and supportive staff attitude were considered as essential in advocating the compliance to program, motivating and facilitating them in active ageing.
Conclusion
LS-MCI demonstrated effectiveness in advancing mental well-being and self-efficacy in self-management of mood symptoms and cognitive complaints. Cognitive remediation should be included as a core feature of mood management. For future intervention, a larger sample size and a more specific analysis on daily memory function would be beneficial to further develop the program to fit both psychological and cognitive concerns of clients.
