Wisdom Mind Mindfulness for Cognitively Healthy Older Adults and Those With Subjective Cognitive Decline, Facilitator Guide

Wisdom Mind is an empirically-supported mindfulness intervention program for older adults - those who are cognitively healthy, as well as those who may be experiencing subjective cognitive decline. While mindfulness is already known to benefit a wide variety of individuals, the unique strengths of this program are the ways in which it is tailored specifically to older adults. Session content is contextualized within the developmental concerns of older adults (such as cognitive slip-ups, loss, and grief). Content is further informed by a clinical-neuropsychological perspective, which incorporates both restitution (scaffolding mindfulness practices in a sequence of increasing difficulty) as well as compensation (strategies to promote learning and integration). Designed to be used alongside the companion Participant Workbook, this session-by-session Facilitator Guide provides detailed information on how to deliver the program, as well as the reasoning behind why certain practices and strategies are provided at different times and in different ways. As such, it will be of interest to seasoned mindfulness instructors and those new to the practice, as well as to a range of mental health and healthcare professionals. A companion website provides downloadable meditation audio recordings that facilitators and participants can access throughout the program; scripts are also provided for those facilitators who wish to create their own recordings.

Colette M. Smart, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Psychology and a member of the Graduate Faculty in the CPA-Approved Doctoral Training Program in Clinical Psychology at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. She has also been a core member of the Subjective Cognitive Decline Initiative, an international working group of clinician-researchers focused on subjective cognitive decline. Dr. Smart is a registered psychologist, with her practice focused on clinical neuropsychology and cognitive rehabilitation. She has been practicing and teaching various forms of mindfulness for well over 20 years, and is particularly interested in tailoring mindfulness to individuals with various forms of cognitive impairment.