No abstract

This rapid, narrative review summarizes useful evidence from behavioral science for fighting the COVID-19 outbreak. We undertook an extensive, multi-disciplinary literature search covering five issues: handwashing, face touching, self-isolation, public-spirited behavior, and responses to crisis communication. The search identified more than 100 relevant papers. We find effective behavioral interventions to increase handwashing, but not to reduce face touching. Social supports and behavioral plans can reduce the negative psychological effects of isolation, potentially reducing the disincentive to isolate. Public-spirited behavior is more likely with frequent communication of what is “best for all”, strong group identity, and social disapproval of noncompliance. Effective crisis communication involves speed, honesty, credibility, empathy, and promoting useful individual actions. Risks are probably best communicated through numbers, with ranges to describe uncertainty – simply stating a maximum may bias public perception. The findings aim to be useful not only for government and public health authorities, but for organizations and communities.

Objectives To explore the relationship between cognitive function and frailty. Design A cross‐sectional study using data from Wave 1 of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, a population representative study of adults aged 50 and older in the Republic of Ireland. Setting Community‐dwelling adults completed a home‐ or health center–based nurse‐led assessment. Participants Individuals aged 50 and older without a history of stroke, Parkinson's disease, or severe cognitive impairment (Mini‐Mental State Examination (MMSE) score <18) and not taking antidepressants (N = 4,649). Measurements A cognitive battery including MMSE, Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Color Trails Test, Cambridge Mental Disorders of the Elderly Examination memory and executive function subtests, 10‐word recall, Sustained Attention to Response Task, and choice reaction time was used to generate composite scores of cognitive domains. Frailty was assessed according to weakness, slowness, exhaustion, low physical activity, and weight loss. Results After full adjustment, cognitive function across all domains except self‐rated memory and processing speed was significantly worse in prefrail and frail participants (P < .05) than in those who were robust. Weakness and walking speed were most consistently linked to poorer cognition, whereas low activity and weight loss were not independently associated with any cognitive domain. Exhaustion was associated with global cognition (B = −0.18 ± 0.06), with some evidence of links to objectively measured and self‐rated memory. Conclusion Cognitive function is worse across multiple cognitive domains in prefrail and frail individuals aged 50 and older than in those who are robust, although the absolute differences are small after adjusting for confounding factors.

Perceptions of aging have been shown to impact the psychological and physical health of older adults. Experimental studies have found that priming older adults with negative attitudes toward aging results in immediate declines in psychological, physical and cognitive functions. Longitudinal studies have supported this work illustrating the longer term impact of negative and positive perceptions of aging on psychological and physical health. However, it is surprising that there are a limited number of studies that have investigated the longitudinal association between perceptions of aging and cognitive function. The aim of this article is therefore to explore the association between perceptions of aging and cognitive function across a number of domains in a population representative sample of adults aged 50 and older. The sample was assessed twice over 2 years. Negative perceptions of aging at baseline were independently associated with longitudinal decline in verbal fluency and self-rated memory over a 2-year period after adjustment for physical and mental health. These findings suggest that negative perceptions of aging may play a role in cognitive decline in the older population. Furthermore, aging perceptions may be a modifiable factor to target for future interventions.