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Objectives: As the aging population increases, it is critical to find ways to sustain older adults' health and well-being. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) may be one approach, but its effects are difficult to discern because few studies have conducted randomized controlled trials with an active control group and blinded examiners. We begin to address these gaps with a pilot study examining the feasibility of conducting an MBSR intervention with an active control condition in healthy older adults., Methods: Participants were randomly assigned to one of two classes, MBSR or Brain Health education. Classes were matched for time, format, and instructor. The study examined acceptability, practicality, implementation, and preliminary efficacy using a range of participant questionnaires, instructor ratings, cognitive measures assessed by blinded examiners, and attendance., Results: Both MBSR and the Brain Health class evidenced high rates of recruitment, participant satisfaction, and retention. Implementation procedures were successful, and preliminary results revealed similar levels of efficacy across both classes., Conclusions: This study demonstrates the feasibility of an MBSR intervention in healthy older adults., Clinical Implications: MBSR, with its focus on improving stress and self-awareness, has the potential to be an approach that can improve aging adults' health and coping skills.

Objectives: Heavy demands upon dementia caregivers can lead to a number of poor health outcomes including declines in physical, mental, and brain health. Although dementia affects people from all backgrounds, research in the US has largely focused on European American caregivers. This has made providing culturally-competent care more difficult. This study begins to address this issue by empirically examining how culturally-shaped beliefs can influence loneliness in family caregivers of people with dementia., Methods: We conducted a preliminary questionnaire study with Chinese American and European American family caregivers of people with dementia (N = 72)., Results: Chinese American caregivers were more concerned than European American caregivers about losing face, which in turn, was associated with greater loneliness. This pattern remained when accounting for caregiver gender, age, and relationship to the person with dementia., Conclusions: These preliminary findings highlight the role that cultural beliefs can play in adverse caregiver outcomes, and suggest that addressing concerns about losing face may be an important way for healthcare providers to help reduce loneliness among Chinese American caregivers., Clinical Implications: Understanding how cultural beliefs influence caregiver outcomes is critical as healthcare professionals work to provide culturally-competent care and design culturally-sensitive interventions.