JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Older Chinese Americans are at high risk of dementia, yet fail to access culturally relevant services/programs to reduce their risks due to issues such as language barriers and transportation. BrainHQ is a mobile-based, effective cognitive training program that can potentially address these barriers and delay cognitive decline in older Chinese Americans.

Objective:

We aim to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of a mobile-based cognitive training intervention co-designed by older Chinese Americans and their adult children.

Methods:

We applied an experience-based co-design approach that leverages existing cognitive training features and older Chinese Americans’ prior knowledge, lived experience, and social norms around dementia to co-develop a cognitive training intervention. We conducted an experience-based co-design workshop with Older Chinese Americans (n=10), and their adult children (n=4) to optimize the cultural and linguistic relevance of the cognitive training intervention. Participants used a journey map to brainstorm challenges they may experience when participating in the intervention. Then participants created prototypes of intervention components to address these challenges. Finally, we incorporated these prototypes into the co-designed intervention protocol. Thirty participants will be recruited into the intervention study and will be randomly assigned to the intervention or waitlist control group (2:1 ratio). The intervention group will complete the mobile-based cognitive training for 10-15 minutes daily for 12 weeks. The primary outcomes are feasibility and acceptability. Global cognition, mental health, physical functioning, and quality of life will be assessed at baseline, 8, and 12 weeks.

Results:

This pilot trial received institutional Review Board Approval in November 2024. We enrolled the first participant in December 2025, aiming to complete enrollment by May 2025. We expect to complete all data collection by September 2025. We will analyze the data and report study findings by February 2026.

Conclusions:

This study leverages partnerships with academic, industry, and community stakeholders and provides the groundwork for a large-scale randomized controlled trial to test the efficacy of a mobile-based cognitive training for older Chinese Americans. The co-design workshop severed as a feasible, innovative approach to engage with the participants and improve the design of the study. These findings will enhance culturally tailored delivery of cognitive training to older Chinese Americans and provide insights for broader implementation, improving their engagement in dementia research. Clinical Trial: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05355870