Hello Fellow SHARP Pioneers,

We are pleased to share with you what we’ve been up to this past year. But first, we hope everyone is well and that you are following the health precautions during this unpredictable time. As you know, be sure to wash your hands and disinfect surfaces frequently.

We understand that this time of self-quarantine can be lonely and uncertain. Try to stay social as best you can. Connecting on the phone and video chatting (like on Skype, FaceTime, Duo, or Zoom) are great options.

Please know that the SHARP team is thinking of you all. After the COVID-19 message below from the OHSU Layton Center, we’ve put together some SHARP updates for your quarantine reading pleasure.

Enjoy!  

COVID-19: An update from the OHSU Layton Center

  In order to minimize the risk of spreading the COVID-19 virus, we at the Layton Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease Center and ORCATECH are suspending all in-person research and clinic visits and canceling events. In order to proactively protect you, our staff, and our volunteers, we’ve implemented the following changes:

• All in-person clinic visits & research visits have been suspended until further notice. Our patient-centered telephone lines are still active. If you have any questions about an appointment, research visits, or would like to reach the nurse line, please call 503-494-6976.

• Online research-related activities will continue. If you are enrolled in a Layton Center or ORCATECH research study, please continue to participate in digital research-related activities, such as completing weekly online health surveys or conducting video-based chats.

• All events have been canceled and postponed until May 1, 2020. This includes our monthly “Living with Memory Concerns” workshops and AD Investigator Meetings. An updated event calendar can be found on our website.

For updates on in-person clinic and research visits, as well as events, please check the Layton Center website and the ORCATECH website.

We encourage you to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 by following OHSU’s recommendations. OHSU lists updated health and safety guidelines, common questions about COVID-19, and resources for community members. Find resources and guidelines on the OHSU website.

Talk n’ Taste Events: Learning, Groovin’ and Remembering Together

  The SHARP Team and PreSERVE Coalition for African American Memory and Brain Health held two successful Talk n’ Taste Learning Session events in May and June 2019. The two events were titled “Celebrate Good Times, Come on!” based on Kool and the Gang’s hit classic, and “And the Beat Goes On!” from the Spinners’ classic. Speakers Dr. Raina Croff (May’s event) and Dr. Lisa Barnes from Chicago’s Rush University (June’s event) discussed socializing, walking, the effect of discrimination on Black health, and practical guidance for healthier aging. Speakers were followed by our talented movement instructors, Andre Pruitt and Latroy Robinson, who taught us sit-or-stand dance exercises to the beat of some good old Motown grooves.

  The audience also got into groups of threes to do 10-minute “Remember Together” sessions using historical images of Portland’s African American community to keep with SHARP’s theme of oral history storytelling. Feedback from the two sessions indicated that participants were very appreciative of the health information, and of the memories that were shared with other community members. Participants took home packets with health information, a “Black Memories Matter” button, a pedometer, and healthy soul food recipes. Catering was provided by Pots Pans and Skillets (Mrs. Joyce Smith-McGee). The SHARP team and PreSERVE are planning on having more Talk n’ Taste events sometime this year, so be on the lookout for your invitation! 

Left Photo - Dr. Barnes answering audience questions on brain exercises

(Photo Credit: Avery Richardson)

Right Photo - Andre Pruitt, MSW, LCSW leading our chair exercises

(Photo Credit: Edline Francois)

Below Photo - Catering by Mrs. Joyce Smith-McGee’s Pots, Pans & Skillets

(Photo Credit: Raina Croff)

Activity: Remember Together (even while we’re apart)

You are probably spending a lot of time at home these days, like much of our country during this challenging time. Do your best to stay connected and active – go on a walk, or do some gentle moves in your own home to some tunes you love. Or, call a friend and do some remembering together.

Here are some prompts to get you going.

SHARP Website Study – Celebrating who we are and learning about healthy aging 

         The SHARP team concluded our final focus group on September 30th, 2019 for the SHARP online learning tool. This website, still being developed, aims to celebrate African American culture, the lives we’ve lived, and the history we’ve made together. The website uses oral history collected from SHARP walks alongside health information for a more meaningful online learning experience. We enjoyed our time with our 12 participants who helped us shape the look and feel of the website. We truly appreciate their valuable feedback! While we’ve developed quite a bit of the website, we are still in the process of creating some of the informational content. We hope to have the website available soon--we’ll definitely keep you posted!

Center Photo - A quick photo session after Focus Group 3’s morning participants

(Photo Credit: Ona Golonka)

View the SHARP website conference poster below

Welcome, Dr. Sará King!

Postdoctoral Fellow, Oregon Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Neurological Disorders

  Sará King is a mother, a UCLA-trained neuroscientist, anthropologist, education philosopher, and political scientist. She completed her B.A. degrees in Linguistics and Black Studies at Pitzer College in Claremont, CA before coming to OHSU. Her work integrates culturally celebratory yoga and mindfulness practices into a community intervention for Alzheimer’s disease for the African-American community of Portland (SHARP). SHARP is headed up by Dr. Raina Croff and supported by the OHSU Layton Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease Center. Her research also currently focuses on healing the trauma of gentrification and its impact on the brain and cognitive health. Sará is also an internationally recognized thought leader in the field of mindfulness and social justice in schools and has enjoyed public speaking and advocacy work at the intersection of these fields.

(Text Source: https://www.ohsu.edu/postdoctoral-affairs/current-fellows)

SHARP Team Updates

Documentary film featuring SHARP

  Renee Chenault-Fattah is a prominent news journalist in Philadelphia. She has recently filmed a documentary which includes the SHARP study. Her film, “In Our Right Mind: Alzheimer’s and Dementia’s Impact on Communities of Color” has been screened at The Kimmel Center, Philadelphia (October 2019), Johns Hopkins (Nov. 2019), and Maryland Film Festival (December 2019). We are working with Renee on bringing the film to Portland for a community screening. We are so excited about being part of this meaningful conversation that focuses on how Alzheimer’s disease affects our communities.

To watch the trailer, click below: 

Sharing SHARP Across the Nation

  The SHARP team has been busy presenting SHARP study results, sharing about Portland’s gentrification experience, and discussing how neighborhood changes affect the health and wellbeing of our older African American community members.

Here’s a list of our recent and upcoming presentations to give you an idea of the far-reaching interest in what you all have contributed to by being a part of the SHARP study.  We so appreciate the contributions you have all made to this work and we are proud to share it with the nation!

 Invited Lectures by Dr. Raina Croff in 2019

Washington, DC.

• SHARP: Implications and Considerations for Adoption in Communities. Alzheimer’s Association Digital Biomarker Meeting. November. Approx. 250 attendees

Los Angeles

• SHARP Integrative Technology: Where Cognitive Health, Culture, and Social Justice Meet. Technology and Dementia Pre-Conference. Alzheimer’s Association International Conference. July Approx. 400 attendees

Keizer, Oregon

• The Knowledge, the Energy, the Connecting: The SHARP Approach to Social Engagement for African American Brain Health. Oregon Gerontology Association. October. Approx. 50 attendees.

Talks and posters at conferences by the SHARP team in 2019

Los Angeles - Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in July

• “It’s tied to a purpose”: A Culturally Celebratory Approach to Motivating Physical Activity and Social Engagement among African Americans. Croff, R., Towns, J. Francois, E., Fuller, P., Pruitt, A., Kaye, J.
• “Where do I Fit In”: The Impact of Gentrification on Aging in Place. Fuller, P., Croff, R., Francois, E., Towns, J., Pruitt, A., Kaye, J.
• Assessing the Health Impact of a Culturally Relevant Multimodal Cognitive Health Intervention. Towns, J., Croff, R., Francois, E. Fuller, P., Pruitt, A., Mattek, N., Kaye, J.

Austin, Texas - Gerontological Society of America Annual Meeting in November (posters)

• Pairing Stories and Educational Content for a Culturally Celebratory Healthy Aging Resource. Croff, R., Parris, C., Fuller, P., Towns, J., Golonka, O., Francois, E., Pruitt, A., Kaye, J.
• Walking and Talking about What Used to Be: The SHARP Study for Older African American Brain Health. Croff, R., Towns, J., Fuller, P., Mattek, N., Parris, C., Pruitt, A., Francois, E., Kaye, J.  

Upcoming talks about SHARP

Kansas

• A talk to share about SHARP at University of Kansas in May 2020 has been canceled due to the pandemic, but we are hoping it gets rescheduled.

St. Louis, Missouri

• October 2020. Dr. Croff has been invited to give the Annual Seay Lecture at Washington University in St. Louis, at the Knight Alzheimer’s Disease Center national meeting on African American participation in aging research. This meeting draws a large audience of researchers from across the nation

Expansion Journey - Funding Update

  We applied to two smaller grant opportunities in 2019 and did not get awarded funding. So, we’ve revised our attempts and have set our sights on a bigger pot! On March 11, 2020, we submitted an application for funding to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to expand SHARP to Oakland and Chicago African American communities and to do another round of SHARP in Portland. If funded, 225 older African Americans will be engaged in SHARP walking, socializing, and memory-sharing across these three cities. We are truly excited about this work, co-creating with you all this program to help stay active and connected, and to preserve our histories. We should find out about funding in Fall 2020. Fingers crossed!

SHARP Shared with Nationally Recognized Professor, Dr. Camara Jones during her visit to OHSU

Top Photo - Camara Jones, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D., center left, meets with Raina Croff, Ph.D., center right, and participants in the SHARP program, Croff's research into the impact of gentrification on the cognitive health of African Americans and how using memories/storytelling can help. (Credit: OHSU/Kristyna Wentz-Graff)

  Dr. Jones is past president of the American Public Health Association, adjunct professor in the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, senior fellow and adjunct professor at Morehouse School of Medicine and an Evelyn Green Davis Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. Previously, she was the research director on social determinants of health and equity at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and an assistant professor at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Top Photo - Jones, center, walks with, Sharon Steen, left, and Gahlena Maxey-Easterly, participants in the SHARP program, research looking at the impact of gentrification on the cognitive health of African Americans and how using memories/storytelling can help. (Credit: OHSU/Kristyna Wentz-Graff)

It was great getting to know Dr. Jones. She was warm, kind, and very interested in the SHARP approach to older African American health and its approach to preserving history. I felt encouraged by her enthusiasm for SHARP since she has been in the health sciences for decades and has seen many programs throughout her career. We talked about bringing the program to Atlanta, which of course, would be amazing. But for now, we are taking it step-by-step, and starting with our recent application to expand SHARP to Oakland and Chicago and to refine the program in Portland. We won’t know if we got that grant from the National Institute on Aging until September 2020.

For the full article about Dr. Jones’ excellent lecture at OHSU about dismantling racism to advance health for all and more on her SHARP walk, click the button below

Thank you for reading, and take care!