Behaviors and Strategies Supporting Everyday Memory in Older Adults

Abstract

Background: Little is known about the means by which older adults achieve memory-demanding goals in everyday life or alternatively about why they fail to do so. Objectives: We conducted qualitative interviews to evaluate what older people do to support everyday memory functioning. A principal focus was on understanding the ways in which individuals use internal memory strategies and external memory aids. Methods: We interviewed 25 community-dwelling older adults (mean age 70 years) in a semi-structured interview. The transcribed results were coded by extracting segments of the interviews and classifying the responses into emergent categories. All coded interview segments were reviewed by category. Memos were created and relevant themes identified. Results: The older adults reported everyday memory failures (such as forgetting names), often without nominating explicit methods for avoiding these problems. They also reported using a number of external memory aids such as calendars and lists. Our interviews indicated this use was typically a part of complex routines and habits of living that often seemed vulnerable to errors. For instance, people would report filling medication organizers or completing to-do lists without mentioning plans for how to effectively use these aids later. Furthermore, they often reported reliance on spontaneous encoding and retrieval – for example, stating that they would routinely remember to perform important actions in the future. Conclusions: Older adults’ reported everyday memory failures were linked to suboptimal use of external memory aids and to a reliance on incidental learning and remembering. There is potential value for interventions that improve procedures for managing everyday life goals that rely on memory.

Fostering Self-Management of Everyday Memory in Older Adults: A New Intervention Approach

“…Risks for everyday cognitive failures may be accentuated by agerelated cognitive declines, given inertial resistance to change or adaptation for needed compensation for age-related changes (Bäckman, 1989;Farias et al, 2018). Hertzog et al (2019) recently observed some older adults reporting reliance on incidental memory -assuming that if they merely attend to information, they will remember it when needed. Although attention is indeed a critical prerequisite for forming new memories (e.g., Craik, 2002), incidental memory declines over the adult life course (Schneider and Pressley, 1997).…”

“…Although attention is indeed a critical prerequisite for forming new memories (e.g., Craik, 2002), incidental memory declines over the adult life course (Schneider and Pressley, 1997). A habitual reliance on incidental remembering, formed in early adulthood and fostered by the normatively accurate belief that "important things will be remembered, " is likely to increase the risk of everyday memory failures as adults grow older (Hertzog et al, 2019).…”

“…One might not consult the list while shopping, check off items as they are collected, and monitor the list for additional needed goods before checking out. When people were explicitly interviewed about using lists, they generally reported a procedure for creating lists but said little about procedures for using lists effectively (Hertzog et al, 2019). We believe that training individuals to evaluate and optimize their methods for using external aids will have salutary effects on their everyday remembering.…”

“…Interview content is reviewed with the express goal of discussing with participants ways in which their everyday self-management approaches could be improved. For instance, Hertzog et al (2019) identified individuals who used multiple calendars without a consistent strategy for managing them. Based on that information, EMMI for these individuals would recommend integrating calendars and would train how to approach filling and consulting calendars on a daily basis.…”

“…The interview also allows us to assess if individuals are overconfident in their approach to everyday memory. Hertzog et al (2019) frequently observed individuals relying on the assumption that important information will be remembered, even though important events like refilling prescriptions are infrequent actions and often only cued when medicine containers are low or even empty.…”