Explanipedia

Boosting Cognitive Training through Social Engagement: Impacts on Older Adults With Subjective Cognitive Decline Open

Hyun Kang, Emily S. Ihara, Catherine J. Tompkins, Mckenzie Lauber · 2025

This study examined the combined effects of StrongerMemory program (brain exercises involving reading, writing, and math) and weekly social engagement on cognitive, behavioral, and emotional outcomes in older adults with subjective cogniti…

Analyzing sports-related concussions and traumatic brain injuries and their effects on adolescents and athletes Open

Catherine J. Tompkins · 2025

In this paper, the current literature focused on concussions and traumatic brain injuries is comprehensively examined and reviewed, with a particular emphasis on the impact of these injuries on adolescents and athletes. Symptoms, including…

Intergenerational learning strategies for addressing ageism among college and university students: A scoping review Open

Michelle D. Hand, Hyun Kang, Kaitlyn Harvey, Megumi Inoue, Catherine J. Tompkins , et al. · 2025

THE MASON CARES STUDY: EFFECTS OF A STRESS MANAGEMENT INTERVENTION ON MALE FAMILY CAREGIVER BURDEN SCORES Open

Gilbert Gimm, Shannon Layman, Megumi Inoue, Emily S. Ihara, Catherine J. Tompkins · 2024

The Mason CARES study examined the association of a virtual stress management program on mean caregiver burden scores of 97 participants, including 16 male family caregivers of older adults with dementia. Using primary data collected from …

Creating a Community-Engaged Health Research Curriculum: Lessons Learned Across Sites and Stakeholders Open

Catherine J. Tompkins, Elizabeth Ferguson, Jeff Dunn, Heidi Y. Lawrence, Emily S. Ihara , et al. · 2024

EXPLORING THE GENERATIVITY OF A MENTORING PROGRAM FOR MEDICAL STUDENTS AND OLDER ADULTS Open

Leland Waters, Shannon Arnette, Madeline McIntyre, Catherine J. Tompkins, Sarah Marrs · 2024

The Virginia Geriatric Education Centers’ Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program partners with the Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Medicine to provide a Mentoring Program required for all first-year medical students. Two stud…

PERCEIVED EFFICACY OF TWO NONPHARMACOLOGICAL INTERVENTIONS: A QUALITATIVE EXPLORATION OF CAREGIVERS OF DEMENTIA Open

Megumi Inoue, Catherine J. Tompkins, Emily S. Ihara, Shannon Layman, McKenzie Lauber , et al. · 2024

We will present findings from the qualitative component of an explanatory sequential design that investigated the efficacy of two nonpharmacological interventions: the Stress Busting Program (SBP) for Family Caregivers™ and a personalized …

SMART MUSIC INTERVENTION: PROTOCOL DEVELOPMENT OF A WEARABLE DEVICE FOR COLLECTION OF PHYSIOLOGICAL DATA Open

Emily S. Ihara, Parth H. Pathak, Megumi Inoue, Catherine J. Tompkins, Yan Hong · 2023

This study tested a protocol of collecting physiological data through sensors on a wearable device in response to favorite music from late adolescence/early adulthood. The benefits of personalized music for individuals living with dementia…

INTERGENERATIONAL LEARNING TO ADDRESSING AGEISM IN HIGHER EDUCATION: SCOPING REVIEW FINDINGS Open

Michelle D. Hand, Catherine J. Tompkins, Emily S. Ihara, Megumi Inoue, Hyun Kang , et al. · 2023

Intergenerational learning strategies can increase wellness, both among students and older community members, while challenging ageism on college and university campuses. Still, existing studies on the mutual benefits and effectiveness of …

THE STRONGERMEMORY PROGRAM: EXPLORING COGNITIVE BENEFITS AND FOSTERING COMMUNITY Open

Catherine J. Tompkins, Emily S. Ihara, Francesca Keesee, Mckenzie Lauber, Catherine Magee , et al. · 2023

Background StrongerMemory is a brain health program centered on spending 30 minutes per day on handwritten journaling, reading aloud, and arithmetic exercises as a method to enhance cognition in older adults. The StrongerMemory research pr…

EXAMINING A RANDOMLY ASSIGNED MUSIC PROGRAM ON STRESS AND WELLNESS: CARE PARTNERS OF OLDER ADULTS LIVING WITH DEMENTIA Open

Catherine J. Tompkins, Emily S. Ihara, Shannon Layman, Megumi Inoue, Gilbert Gimm · 2023

OBJECTIVE The Mason CARES study examined the effects of a randomly assigned personalized music intervention (Phase II) for care partners of older adults living with dementia after implementation of a 9-week virtual stress management progra…

MASON CARES RANDOMIZED STUDY: EFFECTS OF A NINE-WEEK STRESS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM INTERVENTION ON CAREGIVER BURDEN SCORES Open

Gilbert Gimm, Shannon Layman, Emily S. Ihara, Megumi Inoue, Catherine J. Tompkins · 2023

OBJECTIVE The Mason CARES study examines the impact of a virtual stress management program (Phase 1) and music intervention (Phase 2) on the stress of family caregivers of older adults with dementia. This study presents Phase 1 findings on…

THE MASON CARES RANDOMIZED STUDY: ASSESSING CAREGIVER BURDEN FOLLOWING A STRESS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM Open

Gilbert Gimm, Harveen Pantleay, Emily S. Ihara, Megumi Inoue, Shannon Layman , et al. · 2022

OBJECTIVE The Mason CARES study examines the impact of a virtual stress management program and personalized music intervention on the stress of family caregivers of older adults with dementia. This study presents early findings on 31 parti…

STRONGER MEMORY: EXPERIENCES OF OLDER ADULTS AND CAREGIVERS IN AN INTERVENTION PROGRAM FOR COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE Open

Hyun Kang, Catherine J. Tompkins, Kendall Barrett, Francesca Keesee, Catherine Magee , et al. · 2022

Subjective cognitive decline (SCD), defined as self-reported memory issues that have worsened over the past year, can be one of the first indications of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. SCD affects nearly 9% of Virginians aged 45…

THE JOY AND CHALLENGES OF STORY CREATION WITH TIMESLIPS: STUDENT FACILITATOR PERCEPTIONS Open

Emily S. Ihara, Emily Pérez, Kendall Barrett, Megumi Inoue, Catherine J. Tompkins · 2022

Creative arts interventions for people living with dementia have been shown to improve mood, emotions, communication, and relationships for older people living with dementia and their care partners. Previous research demonstrates that Time…

Creating Interprofessional Readiness to Advance Age-Friendly U.S. Healthcare Open

Leland Waters, Sarah Marrs, Catherine J. Tompkins, R. Jobe Fix, Sheryl Finucane , et al. · 2022

A successful interprofessional faculty development program was transformed into a more clinically focused professional development opportunity for both faculty and clinicians. Discipline-specific geriatric competencies and the Interprofess…

Characteristics of Nursing Facilities and Staff Willingness to Implement a Non-Pharmacological Intervention Open

Megumi Inoue, Menghao Li, Shannon Layman, Catherine J. Tompkins, Emily S. Ihara · 2022

While non-pharmacological interventions could positively impact mood and behaviors of nursing-home residents who are living with dementia, some facilities are more willing to adopt such interventions than others. This study investigated th…

Implementing a Personalized Music Intervention for Persons Living With Dementia in Nursing Facilities Open

Megumi Inoue, Menghao Li, Emily S. Ihara, Catherine J. Tompkins, Christi Clark , et al. · 2021

The Mason Music & Memory Initiative (M3I) team has implemented a personalized music intervention in nursing facilities across Virginia aiming to improve behavioral and psychological symptoms of persons living with dementia. This person-cen…

Virginia’s Response to the Nursing Home COVID Action Network Open

Leland Waters, Anne Rhodes, Shannon Arnette, Dan Bluestein, Emily S. Ihara , et al. · 2021

The Virginia Geriatric Education Center’s GWEP recruited 195 of Virginia's 273 eligible nursing homes, using two Project ECHO Nursing Home Training Centers located at George Mason University and Virginia Commonwealth University. These sess…

Creative Arts Interventions as a Way to Combat Ageism and Increase Student Interest in Gerontology Open

Emily S. Ihara, Catherine J. Tompkins, Megumi Inoue, Kendall Barrett · 2021

Despite the continuous, growing need for health professionals who are trained to work with older adults living with Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders (ADRD), research shows that recruitment and retention of gerontological health ca…

Collaborative Grounded Theory Open

Kara Vander Linden, Catherine J. Tompkins · 2021

This article describes how two researchers’ professional relationship began as a mentor/mentee relationship and transformed into co-researchers using grounded theory. We explain how we navigated each stage of the process of conducting a GT…

The StrongerMemory Program: A Brain Health Intervention for Mild Cognitive Impairment Open

Catherine J. Tompkins, Emily S. Ihara, Rob Liebreich, Jessica Fredericksen, Lauren E. Bradley · 2021

The StrongerMemory program is a brain health intervention targeting older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Approximately 20% of individuals over 65 years old have MCI and 38% will potentially develop dementia after 5 years of M…

Exploring the Stress and Strengths Arising From the Complexities Existing Within Grandfamilies Open

Catherine J. Tompkins, Alice Zic, Ellie Carlson, Ali Purvis, Loriena A. Yancura , et al. · 2020

The opioid crisis and other social problems continue to increase the number of grandparent-headed households in the U.S. There are challenges and benefits that result from grandparents parenting their grandchildren. Grandparents often repo…

Emotional Experiences of Dementia Caregiving Transitions Open

Emily S. Ihara, Catherine J. Tompkins, William G. Kennedy, Rhea Vance-Cheng, Bianca Kwan , et al. · 2020

Research indicates that family caregivers of individuals living with dementia are at risk for high levels of stress, depression, physical health declines, and illness. The health and well-being of family caregivers is critically important …

The Implementation of Birdsong: A Non-Pharmacological Intervention for Persons With Dementia Open

Catherine J. Tompkins, J. G. Thomas, Christina Cole, Mei Qiu · 2020

Birdsong is a person-centered, nonpharmacological intervention for people with dementia. Using a touch-screen tablet, residents with dementia are stimulated with content customized based on individual interests such as sports, videos, musi…

Creating Stories Using TimeSlips With People Living With Dementia Open

Emily S. Ihara, Kendall Barrett, Catherine J. Tompkins, Megumi Inoue, K Hanson · 2020

TimeSlips is an award-winning, non-pharmacologic, creative storytelling intervention designed specifically for individuals living with dementia by Anne Basting. As part of the NextGen pilot program, George Mason University implemented Time…

Exploring the Effects of Arts Intervention Groups on Well-Being Among Older Adults Open

Emily S. Ihara, Kathryn McNeil, Adriana Lopez-Piper, Maxine Eber, Catherine J. Tompkins , et al. · 2020

Engaging in the arts reportedly improves well-being, but research is limited on the specific effects for community-dwelling older adults. The purpose of this randomized controlled trial was to examine how taking part in different arts inte…

Doing One’s Best: Becoming a Kinship Caregiver Open

Kara Vander Linden, Catherine J. Tompkins · 2020

A kinship family is one where a family member, other than a biological parent, is primarily responsible for the child. In-depth, unstructured interviews with kinship caregivers and children from 15 kinship families were conducted to gain a…

The Implementation of the Music and Memory Intervention in Nursing Facilities in Virginia Open

Megumi Inoue, Emily S. Ihara, Catherine J. Tompkins, Kristen Suthers Rumrill, Kendall Barrett , et al. · 2020

The Music & Memory intervention is a person-centered, non-pharmacologic intervention for people living with dementia. It is considered a personalized music intervention because the playlist comprises music genres that the individual prefer…

A New Opportunity Open

Catherine J. Tompkins · 2020

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