# Developing a Mobile App-Based Intervention to Promote Cognitive Health in Older Chinese Americans

> **NIH NIH R21** · DUKE UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $214,130

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Older Chinese Americans are one of the fastest growing populations in the United States, who face many
social and economic barriers. Over 70% of older Chinese Americans are first generation immigrants, nearly 20%
are living below the poverty line (9% in general US older adults), and close to half of them have limited English
proficiency. These socioeconomic disadvantages shared by older Chinese Americans will not only contribute to
an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD), but also inequitable access
to effective strategies to promote cognitive health. Cognitive training is one of the few interventions shown to be
beneficial to the maintenance or enhancement of cognitive function in older adults with normal cognition or mild
cognitive impairment. The widespread use of mobile phones offers an unprecedented opportunity to deliver
cognitive training interventions remotely to a large population at relatively low cost. This is particularly relevant
to the immigrant populations as they often reside in ethnic enclaves and rely heavily on smartphones and apps
to build social networks and to access local services. Despite the promise of mobile app-based cognitive training,
most prior interventions were tested exclusively in non-Hispanic Whites. Currently, no tailored cognitive training
program exists that can accommodate the unique immigration history, cultural values, and linguistic properties
of older Chinese Americans. To address this gap, we aim to develop a mHealth intervention for cognitive training
that is culturally and linguistically relevant to older Chinese Americans. We will leverage our strong partnership
with a local Chinese community organization, industry partner, and interdisciplinary expertise in cognitive aging,
ethnogeriatrics, implementation science, and experience-based codesign. More specifically, the proposed aims
are: Aim 1: To adapt empirically supported cognitive training components into a culturally and linguistically
relevant cognitive training intervention protocol. Aim 2: To conduct a pilot randomized controlled trial of the
proposed cognitive training intervention to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and obtain preliminary effect
sizes on outcomes including global cognition (primary), mental health, physical functioning, and quality of life.
This study will provide the scientific groundwork for a multi-site large scale randomized control trial to test the
real-world efficacy of this cognitive training intervention. In addition, this project will further our knowledge of
methods to support engagement of ethnic minority communities in clinical research studies. Taken together,
these efforts are expected to ultimately facilitate the implementation of effective, sustainable, and scalable
mHealth interventions to promoting cognitive aging specifically suited for ethnic minority older adults.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10352286
- **Project number:** 1R21AG075228-01
- **Recipient organization:** DUKE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Hanzhang Xu
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $214,130
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-03-01 → 2024-02-29

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10352286

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10352286, Developing a Mobile App-Based Intervention to Promote Cognitive Health in Older Chinese Americans (1R21AG075228-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10352286. Licensed CC0.

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