The Baycrest Center for Geriatric Care in Ontario, Canada has published the strongest evidence yet that a smartphone training program specifically designed for individuals with memory impairment, can result in “robust” improvements in day-to-day functioning, and boost independence and confidence levels.

“The goal of our study was to demonstrate the generalizability of our training protocol to a larger number of individuals with moderate-to-severe memory impairment,” said Dr. Eva Svoboda, a clinical neuropsychologist in the Neuropsychology and Cognitive Health Program at Baycrest, and lead author of the study.

“Our findings demonstrate that it is possible to harness powerful emerging technologies with brain science in an innovative way to give people with a range of memory deficits some of their independence back.”

Memory impairment, particularly when it is severe, can impact virtually all aspects of everyday life. Individuals are unable to readily acquire new information making it difficult or impossible to keep appointments and stay on top of changing personal, social and occupational responsibilities.

Two decades ago, Baycrest pioneered a theory-driven training program that tapped into preserved implicit memory systems in people with amnesia to teach them to use assistive memory devices. Implicit or procedural memory is a type of memory that supports learning but does not require conscious executive control. Common examples of this type of memory include riding a bicycle or brushing one’s teeth which doesn’t require conscious remembering of where the procedure was learned in order to perform it.

Commercial technologies such as smartphones and other mobile electronic devices have immense potential for individuals with memory impairment as they offer high storage capacity, auditory and vibration alerts, rich multimedia capability and high user acceptability.

The Baycrest study involved 10 outpatients, 18 to 55 years of age, who had moderate-to-severe memory impairment, the result of non-neurodegenerative conditions including ruptured aneurysm, stroke, tumor, epilepsy, closed-head injury, or anoxia (insufficient oxygen to the brain) after a heart attack.

Participants completed two phases of training on either a smartphone or another personal digital assistant (PDA) device. Prior to the training, all participants reported difficulty in day-to-day functioning. Some required ongoing supervision and regular assistance from family members due to their forgetting to pay bills, take medications or attend appointments.

In the first phase, instructors from Baycrest’s Memory Link program taught participants the basic functions of their device, using an errorless fading of cues training method that tapped into their preserved implicit /procedural memory. Each participant received several one-hour training sessions to learn calendaring skills such as inputting appointments and reminders.

In the second phase, participants took the device home to apply their newly-acquired calendaring skills in real-life situations. This included setting alarm reminders to take medications and attend future appointments, charging the device, and remembering to keep the device with them at all times. They also learned how to use other software functions, such as phone, contacts, and camera.

As part of the outcome measures, participants were given a schedule of 10 phone calls to complete over a two-week period at different times of the day – to closely approximate real life commitments. Family members who lived with participants kept a behavioural memory log of whether real-life tasks were successfully completed or not by their relative. Participants and family members completed a “memory mistakes” questionnaire which involved rating a list of common memory mistakes on a frequency-of-occurrence scale, ranging from “never” to “all the time”.

Participants and family also completed two additional questionnaires. One measured confidence in the participant when dealing with various memory-demanding scenarios (e.g. dentist calls to change appointment dates). The other examined the participant’s use of the device to support traveling back in time (e.g. searching activities and events from preceding days, weeks and months), traveling forward in time (e.g. planning ahead, entering future events and appointments), and technical ease of use of the device.

All 10 individuals showed “robust increases” in day-to-day memory functioning after taking the training, based on results from the functional and questionnaire-based measures. Participants continued to report benefit from smartphone and PDA use in short-term follow-up three to eight months later.

I overheard a startup that is making it easier for you to do that (hopefully we’ll get more on this in the next few weeks).

Martha Stewart is the latest to start her own ad network. It capitalizes on lifestyle and cooking sites that fit the Martha Stewart brand.

The network is called “Martha’s Circle,” and is forecast to generate around 20 million ad views a month. Sites belonging to the network include: Hostess with the Mostess, Charles and Hudson, 101 Cookbooks and Style Me Pretty. Advertisers include Ace Hardware, Bank of America, and Macy’s.

Example: Apartment Therapy’s site. It has five ad placements, and now two are from Martha’s Circle. The site earns money for the placements, and shares the revenue with Martha’s Circle. The other spots on the site Google AdSense ads. There are niche networks of all kinds and are said to convert at a higher rate because they are niche (highly targeted).

The advantage of working with an ad network is that you can monetize your bog or site with ads that match your content. It’s a win for ad networks as they can easily target a broad network of sites and blogs and work with one or a few networks rather than individual sites.

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The impersonal nature of instant messaging has proved a blessing for people who want to discuss mental health issues with a therapist, but would prefer to keep those visits as closely guarded as possible. A Wall Street Journal report noted a trio of services catering to those needs.

MyTherapyNet offers “E-mmediate Care” counseling for a $1.60 per minute fee. Patients can also book sessions with therapists according to the website. HelpHorizons connects people with therapists, while eGetGoing works as an online drug and alcohol rehabilitation site.

People who need these services frequently prove reluctant to seek them out. Any whiff of news of needing “help” with depression or addictive behavior would quickly circulate through a workplace. Even the suggestion that someone “can’t cope” without some help can destroy a career, along with a person’s reputation and relationships.

Instant messaging performed over a secure platform helps relieve the concern of being seen leaving a treatment facility or a therapist’s office by someone who may know the patient. In some opinions, that could have a downside.

The article raised concerns about treating people sight unseen. “What one gleans as a psychiatrist in a clinical assessment is not just from the words one says but from the emotions,” says Paul Appelbaum, a psychiatry professor at Columbia University. “Emoticons just don’t get you to the same place.”

Critics also worry about therapists attempting to treat suicidal patients, but providers have said they would recommend immediate personal help to anyone who may be a danger to themselves or others.

The use of technology can be a greater benefit than its potential pitfalls. Many therapists have worked by phone with patients for years, and email has become an extra method of communication. Instant messaging just adds to the available methods of connecting a patient and a therapist.

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“We may have seriously overestimated the curative power of hormone therapy,” said Dr. Diana B. Petitti of Kaiser Permanente Southern California in Pasadena, writing in an editorial alongside the Baylor College of Medicine repot.

The study suggests that there is little that can be done with modern medicine to avoid the cycle of symptoms associated menopause. But more holistic approaches, like exercise, meditation, and yoga, may be beneficial for alleviating the symptoms.

The findings come as quite a shock to researchers as their initial hypothesis guided them to look for the benefits of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) using estrogen and progestin.

“When we first started looking at the effects of hormone supplementation, we had expected to see dramatic improvements in women’s health. We haven’t found them,” said Baylor’s Dr. Jennifer Hays, one of the study’s authors.

Nearly two-thirds of the 8,405 women surveyed experienced a recurrence or worsening of symptoms after they stopped HRT, triggering what the doctors called a “second menopause.”

Sixty-three percent of those who suffered a recurrence reported handling their troubles with lifestyle changes that included drinking more fluids, increasing exercise and practicing yoga. And that seemed to help.

Dr. Petitti hasn’t completely abandoned the hope for HRT, opining that the recurrence of symptoms might have been caused the abrupt halt in treatment. She says that symptoms may be less severe if treatment is gradually reduced instead of stopping outright.

The number of women taking HRT sharply decreased from14 million to 11 million after a 2002 study revealed a significant increase in the risk of heart disease, stroke, and breast cancer.

That news also led to the Food and Drug Administration advising that hormone supplements only be taken in the smallest doses for no more than five years.

Baylor’s study will be the latest to shed doubt on the efficacy of HRT, leading Dr. Hays to conclude that the most effective treatment was drinking large amounts of water and increasing exercise.

And do you know what their most common question is?

Yes, you guessed it: “Is there any way I can break through or overcome my fear of cold calling?”

Most of us have at least some resistance to cold calling, and some people I talk with have such a paralyzing visceral and emotional fear of cold calling that they can’t even consider doing it.

In some ways, the fear of cold calling is practically an epidemic — but not the kind of epidemic that gets publicized on TV or in newspapers. It’s a silent and personal one, a psychological struggle that happens in our own hearts and minds.

The fear of cold calling is a painful, daily struggle for many entrepreneurs and salespeople who have been trained in traditional selling techniques.

Traditional sales trainers answer questions about cold calling this way:

“All you have to do is make more phone calls.”

“All you have to do is think more positive thoughts.”

“Just learn to accept rejection as a normal part of selling.”

In other words, “It’s your fault that you aren’t succeeding in sales.”

This is like telling someone who’s terrified of jumping off a diving board, “Don’t be a wimp! Just jump!”

In my experience, very few people are able to overcome their fears that way, because the underlying message is that, if you force yourself to do something uncomfortable, “just doing it” will magically solve the problem.

But this is a response that shows no understanding at all of the psychological barriers that underlie the fear of cold calling. So, how do you overcome your fear of cold calling?

In my opinion, the solution actually is simple, and is based on understanding three simple concepts:

1. It’s Not Your Fault

We can’t help thinking there’s something wrong with us if other people keep telling us that something shouldn’t be a problem, but our own inner feelings tell us that we aren’t comfortable doing it.

There’s a sort of “old boys’ club” sales-conditioning mentality prevalent in English-speaking countries, including the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, that says, “I had to suffer to succeed in sales success, so you need to, too!”

This thinking comes from traditional sales programs that continue to be the accepted approach to selling.

What you need to understand, though, is that you may fear cold calling because you have probably been exposed only to traditional selling approaches, which triggers rejection.

These approaches teach us to make cold calls this way: introduce yourself, explain what you do, suggest a benefit to the potential client…and then close your eyes and pray that they won’t reply with “Sorry, not interested” or “Sorry, I’m busy.”

If you’re still using this traditional approach, you probably hear responses like these the moment you stop talking.

They’re rejections, and what they do us make you feel rejected — and that’s reason enough to make you dislike, fear, and avoid cold calling.

How can cold calling be a positive experience if rejection is the most common response you get?

2. Are Your Self-Perceptions Passive or Aggressive?

Whenever I chat with people about the fear of cold calling, they almost always tell me that they’re afraid to make cold calls because they don’t want to be perceived as “aggressive.”

This is another part of the internal battle — they beat themselves up for being too passive and lacking the confidence to make the next call, but they don’t want to call for fear of being seen as aggressive.

Here’s the good news: there is a middle ground between “aggressive” and passive.”

It’s a place where you can be who you are while still being extremely effective with cold calling, without ever experiencing rejection again.

Unlock The GameT shows you how you can be incredibly effective in cold calling without triggering rejection from potential clients. Imagine the possibilities (and the income potential).

3. Learn to Let Your Language Match Your Thinking

If you can center yourself into a place where you can let go of feeling that you have to go on using traditional cold calling “scripts” and behaviors, you’ll find yourself spontaneously using language that you would use in a natural conversation.

Using natural words and phrases — speaking exactly the way you would with someone you know, can transform cold calling into a refreshing and productive experience.

And, as you let go of the old-school cold calling model, in which your product or service is your only way of generating a phone conversation with a prospect, you’ll make the most crucial transition of all: you’ll begin thinking of approaching potential prospects not from your perspective, but from theirs.

What do I mean by that?

Imagine what it would be like if you could hear your prospect’s thoughts about the problems they are having — and that your solution can solve.

Even more importantly, suppose you could also make note of the words and phrases they’re using as they think about their problems, and that you could take that language and embed it in your cold calling approach.

“Yes, but how would I do that?” you might ask.

It’s simple. Just ask your current clients what three core problems your product or service has solved for them.

When you change your thinking, you can’t help changing the language that you use, which lets you connect in a whole new positive way with the other person you are calling.

If you can let go of your old-school belief system and open up to the possibility that there is a more natural, comfortable way to cold call — one that doesn’t trigger rejection — you’ll be surprised by how easily you’ll break through and overcome your fear of cold calling.

With a Masters Degree in Instructional Design and over a decade of experience creating breakthrough sales strategies for global companies such as UPS and QUALCOMM, Ari Galper discovered the missing link that people who sell have been seeking for years.

His profound discovery of shifting ones mindset to a place of complete integrity, based on new words and phrases grounded in sincerity, has earned him distinction as the worlds leading authority on how to build trust in the world of selling.

Leading companies such as Gateway, Clear Channel Communications, Brother International and Fidelity National Mortgage have called on Ari to keep them on the leading edge of sales performance. Visit http://www.unlockthegame.com to get his free sales training lessons.

No, because for one thing there are healthy people in therapy, and for another, coaches aren’t doing therapy.

In fact this strikes many of us coaches as funny, because we intentionally chose not to be therapists, and so are many therapists. Over 1/3rd of the members of the International Coaching Federation are therapists! In fact, I fit the hybrid of many coaches-I have a master’s degree in clinical psychology, but had a career in marketing and PR. Why didn’t I make therapy my profession? I was waiting for coaching to come along.

GRASS ROOTS

The field of psychology is at least 100 years old-Freud opened up his consulting room in 1886, and the American Psychological Association (APA) was founded in 1892. It is by all accounts experiencing major growing pains right now, and whether it’s labor pains, or death throes remains to be seen. Therapy was originally based on the medical model of disease-there was something wrong with the patient that the expert must find and then fix. As in “cure.”

Over the years, there have been many changes in the field of psychology, with new names (Winnicott, Jung, Adler) and new theories (Rational Emotive, Cognitive, Behavioral), but all assuming pathology.

Martin Seligman’s Positive Psychology is a force in a new direction we’re watching carefully, and the fact that he’s started a Coaching School shows at least some affinity to the coaching philosophy.

FILLING A NEED

Coaching evolved to fill a need that wasn’t being met. Haven’t you looked at least once at a professional athlete and said, “If only” or “Well, sure, when you have that kind of help.” We may not all be 6’5″ with superb reflexes, but each of us has a unique set of strengths and just as much raw potential to develop if placed in the right hands.

We all know what a professional coach does for an athlete. It’s a combination of teaching specific techniques and skills and a lot of work on “mental attitude,” or whatever it’s being called these days. (I think of it as Emotional Intelligence.) Sports coaches have long been into the mind-body connection.

But 10 years ago, who was around to do this for you when you wanted to build a business, or find a new career, or get unstuck, or create a retirement worth living for, or be a more effective father?

Not that you couldn’t do it alone, but it would probably go quicker and better with fresh insight, perspective, and perhaps some specific expertise.

Coaches are “change agents,” but also are specialized. You may want someone who can help you with life balance, who understands your field (engineering), who has actually been a single Mother, who has served on a Board, who has built a successful business, who has been a manager or a professor, who has lost 50 pounds, who has helped someone else lose 50 lbs., or who is himself multicultural.

SO IT’S LIKE FRIENDSHIP?

No. Friends and loved ones have their own issues, agendas, perspectives, and points of view. They also “project”-that is, if they are timid, and you want to do something they consider daring, they” try and discourage you, and tell you it’s “for your own good.” I’m not talking about bungee jumping; I’m talking about starting your own business at age 50, or moving halfway around the world, or walking away from a 6-figure job because it’s making you sick.

Friends are not trained to be objective, and the closer they are to you, the less likely they’ll be objective. Everyone involved with you emotionally has a vested interest in what you do. They also, I’m sure you’ve found, do not have the time.

So for those of us who wanted more out of our lives or particularly out of ourselves, who wanted personal and professional development not in the pop-psych short-term-goal way, but as a lifelong proposition, where was there to go?

Self-help books give theory for a mass market, but where could you get a personal and individualized program? It was time for something new for the millennium – coaching!

About 8 years ago, I was burning out of my then career field, and looking for something I didn’t even know the name for. I went to a therapist who said I was depressed. Damn right I was. I said I needed to find a new career that was meaningful, and she said she “didn’t do that,” and didn’t know anyone who did, but we could talk. She asked me about my father, a lawyer, and if I was “supposed to have been the lawyer.” There were no female lawyers in 1966 when I graduated from college, my father is long dead, and I was beginning to feel I was and nobody had told me. What I was looking for was what coaching is all about-finding your passion (or reclaiming it) and going forward.

USER-FRIENDLY: CONVENIENT, EFFICIENT, EFFECTIVE & AFFORDABLE

Not surprisingly, since it evolved to fill a need, coaching is very user-friendly, mostly done by telephone, from wherever you and/or your coach happen to be. It uses your time efficiently. No wait, no drive time, no dress code, no need to cancel because you’re on vacation. It’s stream-lined, cyber, results-oriented, and becoming more affordable all the time as it becomes more competitive.

AND WHO ARE THE COACHES?

Well, some are therapists, but they come from all walks of life. There are credentialing schools (I direct one, EQ Alive!), but the “requirements” for the field are established by the individual consumer. As Thomas Leonard, the founder of Coaching, said, “Check your credentials at the door and leave your Boy Scout badges at home.” He himself was an accountant who had a knack for helping people with the more important things in their lives.

WHAT KIND OF COACH FOR YOU?

Coaches help people, and in the most amazing ways. Soon I think there will be a coach for everything, and I think that’s wonderful. Now there’s a Potty Training Coach. If you’re laughing, you haven’t been there, as I was – thousands of miles from any family member stumbling around with my friends, the blind leading the blind, and confused by the conflicting advice I was hearing and reading, and a pediatrician who said, “You’ll know when he’s ready.” Not this first-time mother!

There are coaches for ADHD (the Canadian Medical Association has recommended coaching as part of their multi-modality treatment plan), Depression, Divorce, Elder Care, Communication, Leadership, Conflict Resolution, Relationships, Intuition, Introverts, eZines, Marketing, Real Estate, Retirement, Breast Cancer Survival, Emotional Intelligence, Fathering, Public Speaking, Career, and Writing. If you can’t find one for what you want, visit Premier Coach Referral- http://www.webstrategies.cc/coachreferralservice.htm . We’ll find one for you.

For those who have the income to invest in personal and professional growth and are used to paying for professional services, coaching makes sense. It’s definitely an idea whose time has come.

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Susan Dunn, MA, Marketing Coach,
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