CognoSpeak Newsletter Issue 4
Welcome to another edition of the CognoSpeak newsletter. Below you will find a brief reminder about what the project is about. We will also update you on our recruitment efforts (Over 1000 participants recruited), and other exciting project updates. Lastly, we will let you know about the possibility of getting the results to the Cognitron assessment which some participants have already completed and will provide you with guidance on how to complete the (follow-up or beeline) CognoSpeak study in case you haven’t already.
What is CognoSpeak?
We realise it has been a while since you have heard from us, so let us take a step back and explain our project briefly.
CognoSpeak is a digital assessment tool which hopes to make the process of dementia diagnosis easier and quicker. Currently, many patients wait a long time to get diagnosed which may have a negative impact on their wellbeing (e.g. by causing frustration). CognoSpeak could allow to make this process faster, by differentiating between those who have memory or cognitive problems due to some underlying neurodegenerative (i.e. irreversible) problems, or those who suffer from temporary loss of function (e.g. because of anxiety or depression). It is important to note however, that currently, CognoSpeak does not provide results to the assessment, with your submissions helping us to train the system.
Recruitment updates and recent events
The past few months have seen some great milestones in the recruitment process and that is all thanks to you, so we wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest and participation in the study.
Currently, we have had over one thousand participants take part in the study. Our biggest recruitment site is Join Dementia Research - a website which gathers those interested in contributing to dementia studies. Healthy participants in particular, who signed up themselves on the website, form the largest recruitment group in the study, making up over 700 participants. To those who took part - a big thank you from the study team - please know you are making a difference.
Currently, we are particularly interested in participants with memory complaints - individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), mild dementia of any type, and memory complaints due to functional causes (such as depression or anxiety). If you know anyone who is interested in the study, or if you yourself have not yet taken part, please get in touch with us as we would greatly welcome your participation (email d.a.braun@sheffield.ac.uk).
Lastly, CognoSpeak is keen to recruit participants from a variety of backgrounds, including different cultural and linguistic backgrounds (i.e. ethnic communities and participants who speak English as a Second Language). We have finished our recruitment site at Israac Somali Community Association, with data from 50 British Somali participants recorded with the help of community champions. Last month, we began recruitment from the Sheffield Chinese Community and ShipShape (South Asian community centre). Later this year, we will expand our recruitment to the Polish community. We will be sure to let you know about any recruitment and event updates in the newsletter and on our blog.
CognoSpeak presentation to the NIHR
Some of our team members had an opportunity to present our efforts in the National Institute of Health and Care Research presentation. The Devices for Dignity (D4D) event was hosted by NIHR in Sheffield, bringing together members of the Medical Technology industry and researchers to celebrate the positive changes NIHR has facilitated in the health-tech landscape. As part of this, CognoSpeak presented on the importance of working with minority ethnic communities in the UK to ensure that the product being created can work for all of the people who may need to use it. Caitlin Illingworth, Sahra Abdi, Muse Jama, and Ismail Yussuf from Israac spoke about their experience of collaborating with the CognoSpeak team and what this work has meant for them and the wider Sheffield Somali Community.
Pictured: CognoSpeak, D4D and Israac presentation to the NIHR
Cognitron results
We know that some of our participants were disappointed to find out that we are unable to provide results of the CognoSpeak assessment study. This is because we are currently at the stage of training the system, so that it can provide the most accurate results.
However, the results of another assessment which forms an optional part of the study called Cognitron, are now available to those who completed it. If you would like to see your results, go to https://cognospeak.cognitron.co.uk/, select ‘Click to continue’ and enter the code you were given in the Cognitron invitation email (which you can find by typing ‘Cognitron’ to your email browser; it should look something like this: CSPK-XXXXX). You should then be able to see breakdown results of your Cognitron assessment. If they are not available, it is possible that you have not completed the assessment fully - however you can still complete it from the part you left off.
If for any reason, the results are not available, please get in touch with the study team and we will guide you through the process or raise the issue with technical support.
Follow up assessments
Lastly, we are particularly interested in repeat submissions from our participants. This will allow us to see any potential changes in the performance on the assessment over time. If you have last completed CognoSpeak 6 months ago or more, you should have got a follow-up email from the system. If you are not sure if you have received it, search cognospeak.tbox@gmail.com on your email browser. The email contains the link to the follow up assessment which can be completed using the Chrome browser on your laptop or computer. If you cannot find the email in your inbox, please email the study team who will be happy to help.
Thank you for reading this newsletter!
That is it for this edition of the CognoSpeak newsletter. Thank you for reading it and a big thank you for taking part in the study.
If you have not yet please head to the home page (or click here: CognoSpeak.com) to take part using the Google Chrome browser, or to read more about our project.
Your participation is making a difference in the future of dementia diagnosis
All the best,
The CognoSpeak team
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