Keep Your Brain HAP‐B: Group Psychoeducation to Promote Behaviors which Support Healthy Brain Aging

Positive health behaviors can promote brain health with age. We developed a novel health education and implementation group for older Veterans called the “Healthy Aging Project: Brain” also known as HAP‐B. We had these primary goals: provide psychoeducation, focus on ‘what matters’, improve awareness of health behaviors, and promote behavioral change through individualized goal‐setting, monitoring, and support. The scientific literature + needs assessment‐based content addresses 4 key areas: physical activity, sleep improvement, cognitive stimulation, and social interaction. Each of the 6 “classes” are 90 minutes long. Pre‐pandemic n=37 Veterans across 6 groups participated. To mitigate health risk exposure and reach Veterans for whom travel is a barrier, we have adapted the group to a virtual format with n=18 participants across 3 virtual groups (another group is ongoing, n=6). This QA/QI project collects optional pre/post self‐report measures which target satisfaction with the group, depressive symptoms, sleep quality, social support, and subjective well‐being. Additions along the way include in‐session self‐ratings for targeted goal behavior adherence and a pre/post self‐efficacy questionnaire. Our population tends to be predominantly male and White. Results and qualitative findings are promising. The group has successfully been run in 3 outpatient in‐person settings: Mental Health Services, Geriatrics Memory Health Clinic, and Primary Care Mental Health Integration. In‐person results suggest a significant decline in report of depressive symptoms. Lessons learned for implementation for both the in‐person and virtual formats will be shared, as well as analyses on associations between self‐efficacy and satisfaction with life over time. Future directions include ongoing data collection to increase power, continued efforts to increase participant diversity, and direct comparison of in‐person vs virtual formats. We will also present our initiated adaptation for flexible use in long‐term care facilities and among those with cognitive impairments.