FUNCTIONAL SKILLS TRAINING
FUNCTIONAL SKILLS TRAINING
Association of Racial and Ethnic Status with Performance of Technology-Related Functional Skills: Associations with Baseline Performance and Gains with Training
Grant Akalonu et al., American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry Poster Presentation (2024)
American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry Poster Presentation
Association of Racial and Ethnic Status with Performance of Technology-Related Functional Skills: Associations with Baseline Performance and Gains with Training
SUMMARY
In this study we hypothesized that educational attainment and baseline cognitive status would predict lower baseline performance on technology tasks, but that training gains would show a reduced correlation with these factors compared to baseline performance. Racial and ethnic status were not expected to correlate negatively with training gains, particularly after consideration cognitive status and academic achievement.
Minority status individuals performed more poorly on baseline assessments of technology-related everyday activities than white participants and Black participants also had more cognitive impairment and reduced educational attainment. However, training gains were greater for the participants with more baseline challenges and their gains with training were significantly greater than white participants. Thus, functional skills training, although moderated by baseline impairments, overcame baseline differences in performance.
