Health Behavior Change in Midlife Adults at Risk for Alzheimer's Disease

Development of a Personalized Intervention to Motivate Health Behavior Change in Midlife Adults at Risk for Alzheimer's Disease

Modifying health behaviors like physical activity level, diet, stress, and mental activity level can lower risk for Alzheimer's disease, but many middle-aged and older adults find it difficult to sustain health behavior changes over the long term. This project will develop a new intervention that educates people about Alzheimer's disease risk factors and helps them understand how their personal health beliefs may prevent them from making long-lasting lifestyle changes. The goal is to help people sustain health behavior changes to prevent or delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.

Inclusion Criteria:

• age 45-69 years
• normal cognition (Minnesota Cognitive Acuity Scale > 52)
• English language fluency
• at least two of the following: i) BMI > 24.9; ii) systolic blood pressure > 125 mmHg; iii) LDL cholesterol > 115 mg/dL; iv) HbA1C > 6.0%; v) at least one APOE ε4 allele; vi) first-degree relative with AD.

Exclusion Criteria:

• history of serious mental illness (i.e., schizophrenia, bipolar disorder)
• history of neurologic or neurodevelopmental disorder
• current alcohol or drug use disorder based on self-report
• current enrollment in an AD prevention clinical trial.