A Brain Anatomy Visual Tool in the Education of Patients with Cognitive Disorders and Their Caregivers (2024)

Undergraduate: Carson Swain

Faculty Advisor: Heidi Roth
Department: Neurology, Neuroscience and Psychology

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Poor understanding of cognitive disorders, such as dementia and mild cognitive impairment, have been found to cause stress on family members and caregivers. Feelings of fear and anxiety about an individual’s health outcomes related to a cognitive diagnosis have also been found to occur due to poor patient-provider communication. Improving a patient’s understanding, as well as their caregiver’s understanding, of their diagnosis can lead to better health planning and instill self-efficacy. Visual tools have been used in patient education to improve health literacy amongst patients and caregivers for many different disorders, but this has yet to be explored in patients with cognitive disorders and memory loss. At the UNC Department of Neurology’s Aging Brain Clinic, we aim to explore the potential benefit of using a visual brain anatomy tool to aid patients with cognitive disorders in understanding their disease, possible symptoms, and their retained cognitive abilities. Here we show preliminary data of a positive relationship between the use of a visual brain anatomy tool in patient education and a patient’s understanding, as well as their caregiver’s understanding, of their diagnosis and their impairments. These results show further investigation should occur to establish the relationship between the use of a visual tool in patient education and a patient’s understanding of their diagnosis.