Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Background: Every year, one in five Canadian older adults (aged 65 or above) experiences falls, which can lead to a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Older adults with TBI are at a higher risk of developing dementia - cognitive decline affecting patients' function in daily life. Cognitive interventions may preserve or improve cognitive health in people with TBI, but the literature about these interventions is vast, and their effectiveness remains unclear for older adults. Our scoping review will identify and describe cognitive interventions and their costs in different care settings. It will also assess associations and intersections between study outcomes and participants' social determinants of health. Methods: I will comprehensively review existing studies from electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL/CDSR, and PsycINFO) and the grey literature from inception to March 20, 2023, to compile interventions and their costs for TBI-related cognitive problems, such as rehabilitation programs or medications. We will describe the patient, intervention, setting and effect characteristics of cognitive interventions. Eligible studies will include adults aged 65 or above, at least one comparator group and at least one cognitive outcome. Two reviewers will independently review titles, abstracts and full-text articles and complete all data abstraction by intersection of social determinants of health (SDoH) following the PROGRESS-Plus framework. Relevance: My research will facilitate shared decision-making between clinicians and older people with TBI and their families about the potential cognitive interventions. With a system grappling with the challenge of supporting a diverse and aging population, my research will identify SDoH associated with higher needs for cognitive interventions and more prominent gaps between needs and support. By doing this, we can optimize equitable access.