Older adults experiencing mild cognitive difficulties (MCD) may benefit from compensatory cognitive training (CCT) to address cognitive changes. CCT can be delivered over various lengths of time and can focus on a specific cognitive domain (e.g., memory) or multiple domains. Identifying the most relevant and impactful portions of a CCT intervention could allow for more effective and streamlined delivery of compensatory strategies, perhaps allowing this type of training to be included in feedback sessions or brief interventions. This study sought to investigate which factors older adults with MCD found to be most beneficial and applicable to their daily lives after completion of a brief telehealth CCT program.

Adults age 55+ with documented MCD (n=28) and an optional care partner (CP; n=18) were recruited for video-chat delivery of a 6-week, motivationally-enhanced CCT program adapted from CogSMART. The six weeks included content addressing: Education and Lifestyle Strategies (Session 1); Organization, Prioritization, and Prospective Memory (Session 2); Attention, Concentration, and Working Memory (Session 3); Learning and Memory (Session 4); Executive Functions: Decision-Making, Problem-Solving, and Planning (Session 5); and Skills Integration and Next Steps (Session 6). After completing the course, participants (n=25) provided open-ended feedback on course content, including the areas they found most helpful. They were also asked which strategies from the course they had successfully applied in their daily lives, and which they expected to continue using following the course. Qualitative data were coded and analyzed by two researchers.

Participants most often endorsed strategies from Session 2 (44% of participants) and Session 3 (44%) as being helpful and applicable in daily life. Session 1 content was also frequently endorsed (36%). Content from Session 5 was noted to have been helpful/applicable least often (12%). Participants also reported having found common factors of the program to be helpful (35%), such as interaction with the clinician, education on relevant resources, or greater self-reflection and self-awareness through the program. A minority of participants reported “all” (22%) or “none” (24%) of the content to be helpful.

Among older adults with MCD, strategies related to prospective memory (e.g., calendar training) and attention (e.g., mindfulness) were most frequently reported as being helpful and applicable in daily life. Participants reported confidence in their ability to continue using these strategies after the program, along with continued implementation of lifestyle factors to promote healthy brain aging (e.g., exercise). Clinicians interested in providing CCT to older adults with MCD may find the most benefit from emphasizing and prioritizing strategies within these domains. Future research could use ecological momentary assessment techniques to gather real-time measures of how these learned strategies are employed in daily life. Continued exploration of the most salient and effective compensatory strategies for older adults with MCD will support effective intervention and promote independence among aging patients.