Projects

Currently Recruiting:

PAWS Brain Health Study

Positive Aging and Wellness: A Brain Health Study (PAWS) examines brain health over time. Participants will complete annual assessments about their memory, mood, general health, and everyday activities by phone or computer. The project is led by Dr. Ross, and our SHAARP Lab undergraduate research assistants are heavily involved in data collection.

Status: Recruitment and Data Collection are Ongoing

SC Grandparent Caregiver Health Study

Investigating the Everyday Health Experiences of Grandparent Caregivers in South Carolina Grandparent, or the SC Grandparent Caregiver Health Study, is a pilot project that has three primary goals: to (1) assess how easily smartwatches and smartphones can be used to measure grandparent caregivers’ everyday activities and health across 14 days, (2) investigate connections between grandparent caregivers’ everyday experiences and health outcomes, and (3) explore grandparent caregivers' interest in health interventions and education. In this study, grandparent caregivers (or grandparents who are raising their grandchildren) will complete surveys and participate in an interview about their experience during an initial visit at one of our offices in Seneca or Greenville. Then, participants will wear a study- provided Fitbit watch and complete 5-minute daily surveys on a study-provided smartphone across 14 days. After these two weeks, participants will come in for a second visit to return the study equipment and tell us about their experience. We aim to recruit 20 grandparent caregivers from the Upstate South Carolina region. This project is led by Drs. Stephan and Chai and is funded through Clemson’s CU SUCCEEDS grant program.

Status: Recruitment and Data Collection are Ongoing

Prisma Clinician Resource Study

A pilot project entitled “Biopsychosocial-environmental Factors and Cognitive Function in Mid to Later Life: Translating Findings to Clinical Practice” has two primary components. First, the project examines the moderating role of everyday psychological factors, social lifestyle factors, and neighborhood in the association between inflammation and sleep quality with cognitive function. Second, the project explores clinician’s preferences for educational resources to share research findings, using those from Aim 1 as an example. For Aim 2, we are recruiting around 20 clinicians and healthcare professionals across South Carolina. This project is led by Drs. Chai and Stephan and is funded by Prisma Health Education and Research Institute.

Status: Recruitment and Data Collection are Ongoing

Recruitment Complete

SPARK 1 and 2

The SPARK pilot projects were funded through the South Carolina Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (SC-ADRC) and used existing data from EFIT, ENACT, and TRAiLS to explore a range of research questions. From investigations of blood-based biomarkers to health care technology perceptions, the findings of these studies are being shared through peer-reviewed academic publications, as well as local and international conference presentations. These projects are led by Drs. Chai and Stephan.

Status: Data Analysis and Writing are Ongoing.

Rural Family Aging Study

The Rural Family Aging Study explores how families in rural communities approach discussions and take action on issues related to aging, such as Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. Families with 3 or more members across at least two generations enrolled in the study. Participating family members independently completed a pre- survey, then participated in a 1.5-2 hour focus group discussion as a family with our research team. Based on the conversation, each family was sent a list of curated resources the day after their focus group session. Participants independently completed a post-survey and follow-up survey one week and one month after the focus group, respectively. The overall goals of the study are to better understand which factors support and inhibit family conversations and planning before adverse health events or conditions arise and examine whether the focus group discussions can be utilized as an effective tool for promoting family conversations and supporting early detection and intervention when cognitive impairment presents itself. The project is led by Dr. Stephan and was funded by the Johns Hopkins Alzheimer’s Disease Resource Center for Minority Aging Research.

Status: Recruitment is Complete; Data Collection, Data Analysis, and Writing are Ongoing

ENACT

Elucidating the Necessary Active Components of Training (ENACT) assesses potential cognitive, psychosocial, neural, and biological mechanisms underlying the transfer of several types of cognitive training to everyday functioning in older adults. Participants completed a wide range of measures, received a blood draw, and were randomly assigned to one of several types of cognitive training. Some participants also completed functional MRI scans before and after training. We collected measures of cognition, mood, perceptions, well-being and everyday functioning across the study. Participants also completed daily cognitive and psychosocial assessments across the study using smart phones. The overall goal of the study is to assess what aspects of the brain games are responsible for improvements in everyday life. The project is led by Dr. Ross with collaborators at Penn State and was funded by the National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Aging.

Status: Data Collection is Complete; Data Analysis and Writing are Ongoing.

TRAILS

Tracking Real-world Activities in Life Study (TRAILS) employed a novel app-based measure of everyday function to explore associations between cognitive, physical, and everyday function. The study recruited midlife and older adults with higher and lower cognitive functioning across populations with differing socio-environmental exposures. Participants completed assessments of psychosocial, cognitive, physical, and everyday function, with remote and in-lab components. Participants also remotely completed daily psychosocial and everyday function assessments for 2-3 weeks using a mobile application on study-provided smartphones. The overall goal of the study is to validate the app-based everyday function measure and assess the feasibility of using the app-based measure in future research on the detection of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. The project is led by Drs. Ross and Phillips with collaborators at Clemson University, Prisma Health, and Penn State University. It was funded by the Prisma Health Education and Research Institute and the Carolina Center on Alzheimer's Disease and Minority Research.

Status: Data Collection is Complete; Data Analysis and Writing are Ongoing.

EFIT

Everyday Function Intervention Trial (E-FIT) assesses potential cognitive and psychosocial mechanisms underlying the transfer of cognitive training to everyday functioning in older adults. Participants completed measures of cognition, health, sensory functioning, physical functioning and psychosocial factors before, after and then three months after training. Participants also completed daily cognitive and psychosocial assessments across the study using smart phones. The overall goal of the study is to assess which aspects of cognitive and psychosocial functioning are responsible for improvements in everyday life after the cognitive training intervention. The project is led by Dr. Ross with collaborators at Penn State and was funded by the National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Aging.

Status: Data Collection is Complete; Data Analysis and Writing are Ongoing.

FLEX

Feasibility and Enjoyment of Exergames Study (FLEX) assesses older adults’ perceptions of using exergames, such as Xbox Kinect, for exercise and maintaining cognition. The main goals of the project are to gather information on (1) older adults’ experience using exergame technology; (2) barriers to physical activity; (3) enjoyment of exergames; and (4) interest in participating in future exergame-based interventions. Older adults will play exergames in the lab and respond to questionnaires before and after playing the games. The project is led by graduate students Briana Sprague and Sara Freed, and overseen by mentor Dr. Ross. FLEX is funded by the College of Health and Human Development Alumni Society.