None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Studies indicate that over half of the older patients admitted to hospitals are frail. Frail patients are at a high risk of falls, nursing home placement, unplanned readmissions and death. Currently, there are limited treatment options to reverse frailty. Currently only limited studies have explored benefits of cognitive training in frail subjects. This study will determine whether provision of computerised cognitive training in older hospitalised patients improve their frailty status and quality of life.
Interventions
Participants in the intervention group will receive cognitive training, which will be administered by the use of study iPADs loaded with Flinders Assistant for Memory Enhancement (FAME) application. FAME is a tablet based platform used to provide assistive mobile tools and deliver brain training and physical activity interventions to older adults wishing to counteract mild memory loss. Daily training sessions will be provided by a trained research assistant during hospital admission, until participants are proficient to use this program. Thereafter, participants will be instructed to continue practicing 'brain training' for at least one hour per day for 12 weeks in their own homes. Participants will receive fortnightly telephone calls from the research assistant to ensure compliance with the intervention and to address any technical issues arising during the study period.
Sponsors
Study design
Eligibility
Inclusion criteria
- Patients >= 65 years of age identified as frail or pre-frail patients using the Edmonton Frail Scale (EFS) and admitted under the General Medicine service at Flinders Medical Centre (FMC). - At least one self-reported history of fall or self-reported history of balance impairment in last 2 years - Score of greater than or equal to 24 on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE).
Exclusion criteria
- Patients requiring palliative care - Completed cognitive program within the last year - Colour-blindness or a visual acuity of less than 20/80 - Bedbound with severe walking or balance impairment