Reasoning Exercises in Assisted Living (REAL): a feasibility study.

Assisted living facility residents are at risk of cognitive decline that can precipitate nursing home placement. Cognitive training protects cognition and leads to maintained self-care for community dwelling elders. This pilot study tested an intervention designed to improve reasoning and everyday problem solving for assisted living residents. Volunteers (N = 4) completed six Reasoning Exercises in Assisted Living (REAL) training sessions provided over one month. Pre-intervention, immediate post-intervention, and three-month follow-up assessments of problem solving were compared. Participants' scores on Everyday Problems for Cognitively Challenged Elderly (EPCCE) increased 20% from pre-(M = 11.00, SD = 8.83) to post-intervention (M = 19.5, SD = 8.35, t = -312, p = .05). After three months, participants showed sustained EPCCE score improvement (M = 21.75, SD = 4.57, t = -3.95, p = .03).