The Experiences of Persons Living with Dementia Planning for a Dementia Research Meeting. Lessons Learned From the National Research Summit on Care, Services, and Supports for Persons With Dementia and Their Caregivers.

OBJECTIVE: A stakeholder group for persons living with dementia (PLWD) was convened to support the work of a major US dementia research meeting. The objectives of this examination are to present the steps used to implement the Group and guidance for both PLWD and researchers for partnering on research conference planning and participation. METHODS: PLWD met monthly to provide input into the agenda for the 2017 Research Summit on Dementia Care and some Group members also presented at the Summit. Following the Summit, the Group reviewed their contributions and completed an evaluation of the Group process, identifying best practices to support future efforts. RESULTS: Group members were initially unsure about participating due to concerns about ability to contribute and concerns about disease progression. Members reported that participation was a positive experience, however, identifying Group-led governance and attention to Group work process as important contributors. In addition to giving input to the Summit and having the opportunity to interact with researchers, sharing personal experiences with each other was part of the value of the Group to members. Careful Group selection and attention to governance were among the Best Practices members. CONCLUSION: Despite initial uncertainty among members about participating as a Stakeholder Group to inform a national research meeting, members developed a successful process for governance, convening, and providing input to a major national research meeting. Group's self-evaluation yielded specific strategies likely to be useful in formation and implementation of future partnerships between researchers and persons living with dementia.

Contributions of Persons Living With Dementia to Scientific Research Meetings. Results From the National Research Summit on Care, Services, and Supports for Persons With Dementia and Their Caregivers.

OBJECTIVE: Inclusion of patients in research activities has increased in the United States but no guidelines for inclusion of individuals with cognitive impairment exist. The experiences from the Persons Living with Dementia (PLWD) Stakeholder Group that formed to support the first National Research Summit on Care, Services, and Supports for Persons with Dementia and Their Caregivers provided a test of feasibility of this type of participation for a major research meeting and an opportunity to understand specific contributions of the Group. METHODS: The PLWD Stakeholder Group was formed by Summit co-chairs as one of six stakeholder groups charged with providing input into the Summit agenda and meeting recommendations. Members were recruited through clinician/researchers with personal knowledge of potential members. Following the Summit, Group members convened to review Group contributions to the Summit agenda, list of speakers, and Summit research recommendations. RESULTS: The PLWD Group influenced the content of the Summit agenda and some Group members were invited to contribute through Summit presentations. The Group influenced Summit outcomes: of the 58 research recommendations that emerged, 30 express ideas contributed by the PLWD. CONCLUSIONS: The Stakeholder Group for PLWD proved feasible to implement and impacted the agenda and output of a major national research meeting on dementia.

Peritraumatic Tonic Immobility and Trauma-Related Symptoms in Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse: The Role of Posttrauma Cognitions.

Tonic immobility is a set of involuntary motor responses elicited under conditions of extreme fear and perceived inescapability, and it is one type of peritraumatic distress reported by survivors of child sexual abuse. Experiencing tonic immobility during child sexual abuse is associated with increased risk for developing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, although less is known about relations between tonic immobility and other established risk factors for post-traumatic stress disorder. We investigated posttraumatic cognitions as a potential mediator of the relations between peritraumatic fear, perceptions of inescapability, tonic immobility, and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. Specifically, we tested posttraumatic negative beliefs about the self, the world, and self-blame as pathways that might increase risk for post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in child sexual abuse survivors who had experienced tonic immobility. Forty-six women with a history of unwanted childhood sexual contact completed questionnaires measuring peritraumatic tonic immobility, posttraumatic cognitions, and current posttraumatic stress symptoms. Negative beliefs about the self independently mediated the relation between peritraumatic perceptions of inescapability and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, but the data did not support similar path model for the physical symptoms of tonic immobility and post-traumatic stress disorder. We discuss ways in which treatment of survivors and future research on CSA can benefit from attention to the impact of peritraumatic distress on posttraumatic beliefs.