COVID-19, Social Distancing, and Cognitive Impairment in 1Florida ADRC participants

With ~560,000 Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients and >4 million residents >65years old, Florida will continue to be, an epicenter of the AD epidemic in the UnitedStates. The 1Florida ADRC is a collaboration between Florida institutions,including the University of Florida (UF), Mt. Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach(MSMC), University of Miami (UM), Florida International University (FIU), and FloridaAtlantic University (FAU). The 1Florida ADRC's global mission is to work with otherADRCs and AD stakeholders to change the understanding of AD and relateddementias (ADRDs) so AD+ADRDs are more quickly and accurately diagnosed, moreeffectively treated, and ultimately prevented or cured. Multiple studies suggest ahigher incidence of dementia among Hispanics and other underrepresented minoritypopulations (URM). Our successful recruitment and evaluation of a majority Hispaniccohort has enabled us to begin to evaluate whether there are differences inAD+ADRDs between Hispanics and non-Hispanics in South Florida. Enhancing ourunderstanding of dementia in ethnically and racially diverse populations is a majortheme of our ADRC. The SARS-CoV-2 or severe acute respiratory syndromecoronavirus type 2 (COVID-19) pandemic could prove especially detrimental to thehealth and well-being of individuals with cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer'sdisease and related disorders (ADRD). We believe this pandemic has placed ourclinical core cohort and indeed all families affect by AD+ADRD under a great deal ofstress. In this supplement, we will leverage our successful institutional and investigatorpartnerships to further expand our engagement and longitudinal follow up ofparticipants with ethnic, linguistic, cultural, and genetic diversity, as well ascomorbidities associated with AD (e.g., vascular disease, Lewy Body Dementia(LBD)). The specific aims of this supplement are to examine: 1) Effects of socialisolation stress as a result of COVID-19 on mood, function, behavior andcognitive status 2) Effects of cognitive impairment severity on social distancingbehaviors. 3) Extent of access and proficiency with video communicationstechnologies 4) Extent of interest in participation in a telecommunicationsdelivered supportive group program among those participants with videocommunications technology access.