BEST

BEST - "Bielefeld Survey on Awareness of Disorders and Readiness for Technology: Investigation of cognitive functional areas and psychological factors in a sample of healthy older people"

As part of the BEST project, we are collecting data for various research questions. The individual research projects are briefly described below.

Cognitive breakdowns and disorder awareness in normal pressure hydrocephalus (KoSSNo)

As part of a study with staff, people with so-called normal pressure hydrocephalus, the self-assessment of cognitive performance is compared with actual performance in neuropsychological tests in a healthy control sample.

An accurate assessment of one's own mental performance can be helpful in everyday life, for example when we want to structure our tasks or face new challenges. In the field of neuropsychology, there are a variety of measurement instruments that are designed to enable such self-assessment. In our study, we want to find out which instruments enable the self-assessment of different areas of mental performance particularly accurately and reliably. Our results should help to better identify misjudgements and conspicuous changes in self-assessment.

Validation of various questionnaires in simple language

In an ageing society, the likelihood of age- and disease-related cognitive impairment is increasing. In addition, many clinical fields of research (such as clinical neuropsychology) often work with groups of people whose cognitive and linguistic abilities are outside the normal range of the general population. This requires the development of easy-to-understand measurement instruments. Simple language as a simplification of standard language can be an approach to this.

As part of a research project on psychotherapy after stroke, various questionnaires were translated into simple language by trained staff. The questionnaires measure depression, anxiety and stress (PHQ-9, GAD-7, Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 21) as well as two process measures of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) "Value-Oriented Living" (Valuing Questionnaire) and "Self as Context" (Self as Context Scale). The aim of this study is to test the applicability, measurement accuracy and validity of the questionnaires in simple language with a healthy sample.

Readiness to use technology in old age

In the field of healthcare, the use of technology, e.g. for therapies, is increasing. With the help of a questionnaire on readiness to use technology, the aim is to analyse how willing and open people are to these technologies. From this, it can be concluded whether the use of digital or technology-based therapies makes sense at all for certain groups of people or whether there is a particular need for support.

In this study, the willingness to use technology and its correlations with other psychological factors, such as self-efficacy, anxiety, social support and technology use in healthy older people are investigated. For this purpose, a questionnaire to assess the willingness to use technology was translated into simple language. The aim now is to assess whether the translated questionnaire provides reliable information on technology readiness. This means that it can be used in future for people with cognitive impairments, e.g. caused by dementia.

Contact person:

Sophia Forntheil 

0521/10667534

sophia.forntheil@uni-bielefeld.de