HABIT Helps Older Adults With Memory Loss Finds Ways to Cope

The HABIT program at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., is designed to help older adults deal with memory loss, reports NJ.com . The 10-day program teaches a person with mild cognitive impairment and their spouse or partner ways to adjust and cope with this condition. Its centerpiece is a specialized form of memory compensation training called the Memory Support System, developed at the Mayo Clinic and based on knowledge gained from research involving people with traumatic brain injuries. The system trains people with memory problems to adopt an entirely new strategy for keeping track of appointments or tasks or information, using "procedural" memory. "Procedural memory is how to brush your teeth," says HABIT director Anne Shandera-Ochsner. "It's 'how to' memory, versus what and where." Participants work with a cognitive therapist to learn to use a specially-designed calendar that Shandera-Ochsner calls "the closest thing you can get to an old-school day planner." Participants bring the calendar with them throughout the day, which helps them keep track of appointments and tasks, and to scribble notes about conversations they have or important information they want to retain. Once the participant and their partner are trained in memory compensation, the participant is better able to keep track of important information on their own by looking it up in the calendar, instead of continually querying their partner or others.