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Background Understanding the needs and values of older people is vital to build responsive policies, services and research agendas in this time of demographic transition. Older peoples’ expectations and priorities for ageing, as well as their beliefs regarding challenges facing ageing societies, are multi-faceted and require regular updates as populations’ age. Objective To develop an understanding of self-perceptions of ageing and societal ageing among Canadian retirees of the education sector to define a meaningful health research agenda. Methods We conducted four qualitative focus groups among 27 members of a Canadian retired educators’ organisation. Data were analysed using an inductive thematic approach. Results We identified four overarching themes: (1) vulnerability to health challenges despite a healthier generation, (2) maintaining health and social connection for optimal ageing, (3) strengthening person-centred healthcare for ageing societies and (4) mobilising a critical mass to enact change. Participants’ preconceptions of ageing differed from their personal experiences. They prioritised maintaining health and social connections and felt that current healthcare practices disempowered them to manage and optimise their health. Although the sheer size of their demographic instilled optimism of their potential to garner positive change, participants felt they lacked mechanisms to contribute to developing solutions to address this transition. Conclusion Our findings suggest a need for health research that improves perceptions of ageing and supports health system transformations to deliver person-centred care. Opportunities exist to harness their activism to engage older people as partners in shaping solution-oriented research that can support planning for an ageing society.

Clinician-led memory interventions have been shown to increase knowledge, reduce anxiety, promote memory-strategy use, and increase brain-healthy lifestyle behaviours in older adults with normal age-related memory changes. A self-guided, e-learning version of the Baycrest Memory and Aging Program® was recently developed to increase accessibility to memory interventions. The objectives of the current study were to assess program feasibility (retention rate), acceptability (satisfaction), and participant-reported impact (memory concerns, behaviour change, goal attainment). As part of a larger study, participants were 139 healthy older adults (mean age: 73±7, 73% female). Ninety-two individuals completed the program (retention rate=66%). Anonymous feedback data indicated a high level of satisfaction with the program overall (98%), the pace and clarity of the learning modules (100%), and the organization and navigation of the interface (92%). Suggested improvements included offering more interaction with others and addressing minor platform glitches. There was a decrease in the level of concern about memory change, with 64% expressing concern at a level consistent with the Jessen et al. (2014) criteria for Subjective Cognitive Decline at baseline, and 23% expressing the same at post-test. The majority of participants reported increases in using memory-strategies (63-97%) and lifestyle-promoting behaviours (40-72%). All participants reported moderate to high satisfaction with personal goal attainment. Results support feasibility, acceptability, and impact of a self-guided e-learning adaptation of memory intervention. E-learning tools may be a promising avenue to deliver accessible brain health promotion in later life, especially in the context of the shift to virtual care during and beyond COVID-19.

Age-related memory changes pose considerable concerns for aging adults, and can adversely affect their daily living and cause worry even when changes experienced are not clinically significant. The Memory and Aging Program® is a validated psychoeducation and memory strategy-training program that teaches the public about memory changes during aging and trains them to use evidence-based strategies to support brain health. The program has been offered in-person for over 20 years, and a self-guided eLearning version was recently developed to improve program accessibility. This study evaluated the self-reported impacts of memory changes in older adults who completed this eLearning against a control group. We randomized 202 older adults, without neurological or psychiatric diagnoses (71.6 years; 69 % female; 15.6 years of education), into the eLearning program or a control group that received no intervention. All participants reported their perceived impact of memory changes using the Memory Impact Questionnaire at pre-, post-, and 6-8 weeks follow-up. A significant reduction in negative impact of memory changes on daily living and a significant improvement in positive coping with memory changes relative to controls was observed at post-test (13.4 versus 2.5 points reduction and 7.4 versus 0.1 point improvement, respectively, both p < 0.05), but these did not persist at follow-up. The adoption of digital tools has hastened across all ages. Our study showed that self-guided digital tools, such as the eLearning Memory and Aging Program®, may be a promising avenue to help aging individuals reduce the impact of memory changes on daily living.