Some Surprise Findings from a Memory Training Program Survey

A few years ago, we examined the responses from pre- and post-training surveys completed by people who participated in group-based memory training (i.e., Making the Most of your Memory, Radford, 2010).  The participants were 100 neurological patients who had ongoing memory problems mainly as a result of non-acute stroke, head injury or epilepsy.

The survey questions included:

1.      (Pre) What do you hope to achieve through participation in this training program?

2.      (Post) For me, the best thing about this program was:

Pre-training: What do you hope to achieve?

We found the most commonly identified goal prior to participation was to improve memory function generally (39%).  More specifically, participants reported wanting to be better at remembering names or people [20%], past events [12%], previous conversations [10%] and words [8%].  Interestingly, 19% identified areas of cognition that are not specific to memory, including improving attention/concentration and organisation.

Post-training: What did you like best?

Post-training, 32% of participants highlighted the learning of memory strategies as the best thing about the program. Strikingly, however, an even higher proportion (44%) reported that the best thing about the program was being in a group with people who shared similar experiences! Many expressed a wish that their group could continue to meet at the end of the training. 

Conclusions

Cognitive rehabilitation has tended to emphasise strategy teaching and psychoeducation as core elements of cognitive remediation. This study, however, shed light on the importance of socialisation and interaction offered by a group format. Learning with others seems to be highly motivating and rewarding.  Memory rehabilitation programs are enhanced by opportunities for participants to share personal experiences and maintain social support/contact.

Comments about MEMORehab

All of the memory and non-memory problems suggested as pre-training goals for improvement are covered in the MEMORehab program.  In addition to one-on-one administration, MEMORehab makes it possible for a clinician to run groups of 2-6 participants at the same time. The guided, interactive sessions can be conducted online or face-to-face.  Each session encourages discussion of how strategies can be applied in the home environment.  

Several Outpatient Neurology Rehabilitation settings are currently running MEMORehab successfully with groups. If you would like information on the cost effectiveness of this group-based cognitive intervention, contact us.

References

Tse, N.Y., Thayer, Z. and Miller, L. (2021). Memory Rehabilitation in a Group-based Format: What can be learned from participant feedback?  INS Pacific Rim Conference. Melbourne.

Radford,K., Say, M., Thayer, Z and Miller, L. (2010) Making the Most of Your Memory: An everyday memory skills program. ASSBI Resources, Sydney.