Training cognition in older male prisoners: lessons learned from a feasibility study

Sandra Verhülsdonk; Claire Bohn; Nora Neyer; Tillmann Supprian; Julia Christl; Elke Kalbe; Ann-Kristin Folkerts

doi:10.1186/s40352-023-00247-4

Training cognition in older male prisoners: lessons learned from a feasibility study

Health Justice. 2023 Oct 27;11(1):45. doi: 10.1186/s40352-023-00247-4.

Authors

Sandra Verhülsdonk^{1

2}, Claire Bohn³, Nora Neyer⁴, Tillmann Supprian³, Julia Christl³, Elke Kalbe⁴, Ann-Kristin Folkerts⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, LVR-Klinikum Duesseldorf; Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf, Moorenstraße 5, 40225, Duesseldorf, Germany. sandra.verhuelsdonk@lvr.de.
² Medical Psychology | Neuropsychology and Gender Studies, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Kerpener Str. 62, 50937, Cologne, Germany. sandra.verhuelsdonk@lvr.de.
³ Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, LVR-Klinikum Duesseldorf; Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf, Moorenstraße 5, 40225, Duesseldorf, Germany.
⁴ Medical Psychology | Neuropsychology and Gender Studies, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Kerpener Str. 62, 50937, Cologne, Germany.

Abstract

With increasing numbers of older prisoners, effective strategies for preventing and treating age-associated diseases, such as cognitive disorders, are needed. As pharmacological therapies are limited, non-pharmacological interventions are increasingly recognized as potential treatment strategies. One approach is cognitive training (CT). However, no study has investigated CT in the prison setting. Thus, this one-arm feasibility trial aims to analyze the feasibility of (i) the study protocol and (ii) the implementation of multimodal CT for older prisoners. Eighteen older male prisoners from two specific divisions for older prisoner participated in 12 weekly CT sessions using the NEUROvitalis program. The feasibility analysis included recruitment, dropout, and CT participation rates, and motivation for and satisfaction with CT (using 6-point Likert-scales). The study protocol demonstrated sufficient feasibility with high recruitment rates between 46 and 50%. Therefore, the CT implementation was successful: Only one prisoner ceased participation; all others completed the CT sessions (i.e., attended > 75% of the sessions). Prisoners reported high CT motivation and satisfaction, and would recommend CT. This is the first study to demonstrate CT feasibility in older prisoners. Although more research is needed, these results are a starting point for expanding services to include cognitively enhancing activities for older prisoners.This one-arm feasibility study was pre-registered in the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS; ID: DRKS00020227).), Registered 11 Mai 2021 https://drks.de/search/de/trial/DRKS00020227 .