Welcome back to Minding Memory! In today’s episode, Lauren & Matt speak with Dr. Laura Zahodne – a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan and an affiliate of the Institute for Social Research. She's a clinical neuropsychologist by training and studies how psychosocial experiences shape late life, cognitive health, and risk of neurodegenerative disease. Also, a new member of our CAPRA leadership team!

In this episode, we’ll get to know Laura a little better and talk with her about one of her research studies, the Neighborhood Racial Income Inequality in Cognitive Health, which looks at the association between racial income differences and a variety of cognitive measures.

The transcript for this episode can be found here.

Links of Interest:

Laura Zahodne Faculty Profile

Introduction to the Michigan Cognitive Aging Project

Articles Referenced in Podcast:

Zahodne LB, Sol K, Scambray K, Lee JH, Palms JD, Morris EP, Taylor L, Ku V, Lesniak M, Melendez R, Elliott MR, Clarke PJ. Neighborhood racial income inequality and cognitive health. Alzheimers Dement. 2024 Aug;20(8):5338-5346. doi: 10.1002/alz.13911. Epub 2024 Jun 27. PMID: 38934219; PMCID: PMC11350017.

Hu Y, Elliott MR, Meier HCS, Chen L, Walters ME, Sol K, Zahodne LB. The impact of census-tract level mortgage discrimination on cognitive function: accounting for measurement instability in small-area data via joint modeling. Am J Epidemiol. 2025 Nov 4;194(11):3258-3266. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwaf131. PMID: 40522478; PMCID: PMC12634109.

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In today’s episode, Matt and Lauren discuss the new CMS GUIDE model for dementia care with Dr. Brystana Kaufman, MSPH, PhD – a health services researcher at the Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy at Duke University. The GUIDE model aims to improve the quality of life for people living with dementia by reducing strain on caregivers and enabling individuals to remain in their homes.

Brystana talks with the Minding Memory team about a spectrum of topics as related to the GUIDE model including, what motivated CMS to develop and implement the model; what defines a serious illness; how the model supports caregivers; and what an organization needs to have in terms of services in order to participate in the implementation of the GUIDE model. Dr. Kaufman is the co-author of an article in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society titled “GUIDE Dementia Model: Opportunities for Serious Illness Care” which provides additional insight into the model.

Episode Transcript

Brystana Kaufman, PhD, MSPH Faculty Profile

Article referenced in this episode:

Kaufman BG, Grant M. GUIDE dementia model: Opportunities for serious illness care. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2024 Jun;72(6):1935-1938. doi: 10.1111/jgs.18787. Epub 2024 Feb 5. PMID: 38315037.

Additional Resources:

Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience (GUIDE) Model

Health and Aging Policy Fellows

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In this episode, Matt and Lauren speak with Drs. Elizabeth Frankenberg at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duncan Thomas at Duke University about their research which focuses on understanding how survival and physical health evolve after exposure to large scale shocks like the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami. They will specifically speak about the STAR Study and what they’re learning about long-term effects on cognitive outcomes.

Faculty Profiles:

Elizabeth Frankenberg, PhD

Duncan Thomas, PhD

Resources from the Episode:

Study of the Tsunami Aftermath and Recovery (STAR)

STAR Study Design and Results

The transcript for this episode can be found here.

You can subscribe to Minding Memory on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.