# Developing a Peer Support Intervention for Depression in SCD

> **NIH NIH R61** · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · 2024 · $541,571

## Abstract

Project Summary
Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) is self-reported concern about cognitive changes among persons without
objective deficits on standardized cognitive testing, and may be a pre-clinical stage of Alzheimer’s Disease
(AD). SCD is also closely linked to depression. Studies have reported 10-38% of older adults experience both
depression and SCD. Depressive symptoms can precede, co-occur, or follow the onset of SCD, however,
appropriate management of persons experiencing depression in SCD is undefined. An intervention study to
understand the impact of decreasing depression on SCD has not been done. Such a study would clarify
appropriate management and potentially alter the trajectory of cognitive decline. We have developed a
community-based peer support intervention called Peer Enhanced Depression Care (Peers) for underserved
older adults that we seek to adapt for older adults with depression and SCD. It is a manualized depression
care program in which older adult peer coaches who have experienced depression provide 8 virtual weekly
meetings in which social support, self-care skills, and linkage to community and clinical care are provided.
Preliminary work has shown feasibility, acceptability, and potential mediators such as self-efficacy and
loneliness. In this proposal our goal is to adapt Peer Enhanced Depression Care for older adults with
depression and SCD, with particular emphasis on older adults of color. We will collaborate with the
community-based organizations associated with the Massachusetts Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. In
Aim 1, we will conduct pre-intervention focus groups with older adults with depression and SCD to understand
the experience, needs, and coping strategies associated with managing depression and SCD. We will
conduct focus groups with other key stakeholders (e.g., community-based organization staff) to identify early
stage barriers and facilitators to implementation of the intervention in community settings. Results will be used
to adapt the intervention manual and training procedures to address the specific emotional and informational
needs of ethnically diverse older adults with SCD in addition to depression. In Aim 2, we will assess the
feasibility, acceptability, and fidelity of the adapted intervention, which we will call PeersSCD, consisting of 8
weekly video chats focused on emotional, appraisal, and informational support delivered by community-based
older adult peer coaches to adults 50 years of age and older with depression and SCD. We will conduct pre-
and post-intervention assessments and semi-structured interviews with participants, peer coaches, and
community-based organization staff to assess feasibility and acceptability and identify facilitators and barriers
to early-stage implementation of the intervention. The interviews will also be used to explore the potential
mechanisms of action of the interventions from participants’ and peer coach perspectives. The preliminary
data that we o...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10872639
- **Project number:** 1R61AG086932-01
- **Recipient organization:** MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** JIN HUI JOO
- **Activity code:** R61 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $541,571
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-06-15 → 2026-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10872639

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10872639, Developing a Peer Support Intervention for Depression in SCD (1R61AG086932-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-08-11 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10872639. Licensed CC0.

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