Project Title: Cognition and mobility in older adults

Principal Investigator:

Dr. Lindsay Nagamatsu, PhD

School of Kinesiology | Faculty of Health Sciences

Phone: 519-661-2111 ext. 82659

Email: lindsay.nagamatsu@uwo.ca

Invitation to Participate: You are being invited to participate in this research study about working memory and mobility in older adults.

Introduction:  With our aging society, there is an important need to understand and examine factors that are associated with healthy aging. Three specific factors that have yet to be examined are working memory, attention, and subjective well-being. The purpose of this study is to examine the association between working memory, attention and mobility. Secondly, we are interested in examining the association between mobility and subjective well-being .The purpose of this study is to examine the association between working memory, attention and falls. Secondly, we are interested in examining the association between falls history and subjective well-being (positive and negative affect).

Study Length: The study (survey and cognitive game) will take you approximately 30-45 minutes.

Inclusion Criteria: Participants are eligible to participate if they 1) are aged 60-80 years, 2) community-dwelling, 3) completed high school, 4) have not been diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease (e.g. Alzheimer’s, dementia) or psychiatric illness (e.g. depression), 5) are able to walk independently, and 6) can read and write fluently in English.

Risks and Benefits: There are no known or anticipated risks or discomforts associated with participating this study.

You may not directly benefit from participating in the study but information gathered may provide benefits to society as a whole, which include furthering our understanding of factors associated with falls.

Withdrawing: You have the right to withdraw from the study at any point without any consequences. If you decide to withdraw from the study, the information that was collected prior to you leaving the study will still be used to answer the research questions. You have the right to have all of your data removed/deleted from the study upon request. No new information will be collected without your permission.

Confidentiality: Your survey responses will be collected anonymously through a secure online survey platform called Psytoolkit. Psytoolkit uses a securely encrypted connection and restricted access authorizations to protect all data collected. In addition, PsyToolkit runs on a computer placed in a professional data centre located in Strasbourg hosted by the IT company Host Europe GmbH (Hansestrasse 111, 51149, Cologne). The company director is Dr. Boyens. The legal document underlying the IT company is HRB 28495 (Amtsgericht Köln). The data will then be exported from Psytoolkit and securely stored on a Western University server. During your participation in this study, no directly personally identifying data will be collected. All responses within the survey are anonymous.

Only the Principal Investigator and research personnel will have access to the data. We will not share your data with anyone outside the study unless required by law. Representatives of The University of Western Ontario Non-Medical Research Ethics Board may require access to your study-related records to monitor the conduct of the research.

Compensation: There is no compensation. Participation in this study is completely voluntary.

Rights of Participants: Your participation in this study is voluntary. You may decide not to be in this study. Even if you consent to participate you have the right to not answer individual questions or to withdraw from the study at any time. If you choose not to participate or to leave the study at any time it will have no consequences for you.

You do not waive any legal right by agreeing this consent form.

Questions? If you have any questions about this research study please contact Dr. Lindsay Nagamatsu, PhD, Phone: 519-661-2111 ext. 82659, Email: lindsay.nagamatsu@uwo.ca.

If you have any questions about your rights as a research participant or the conduct of this study, you may contact The Office of Research Ethics 519-661-3036, email: ethics@uwo.ca.

By clicking the “Yes” you have indicated that you have read the Letter of Information, have had the nature of the study explained to you and you agree to participate.