Portland observer., July 04, 2018, Page Page 5, Image 5

July 4, 2018
Page 5
Memory Walks for Healing
C ontinueD from f ront
Many African Americans believe memory loss
that is severe enough to impair daily functioning
is natural to aging, even though it’s not, she add-
ed.
The results of the study are still fresh, having
just been wrapped up in May. But so far, the bene-
fits to overall mental health seem evident, though
Croff cautions that she’s unsure if its due direct-
ly to participants’ behavior during the study or
changes in behavior overall as a result of having
gone through it, such as being inspired to walk,
socialize, or reminisce more in their day-to-day
life.
For 86 percent of the participants who complet-
ed the study, half of them had improved cogni-
tive assessment scores at the end. In addition, 77
percent had decreased blood pressure, half expe-
rienced lost weight, and all of them reported im-
proved mood since starting the walks, Croff said.
Qualitative research, like focus group evalu-
ations and interviews, revealed that many of the
participants were engaged and dropout rates from
the study were low due to the sense of purpose
participants gained from activities that recorded
Portland’s African American history.
“What we’ve heard is that there’s a real healing
aspect -- healing from the trauma of gentrifica-
tion,” Croff said.
She said the participants also warmed up to the
ethnically diverse college students who partici-
pated in the study, which Croff said ranged from
undergrad to post grad researchers from Lewis
and Clark College and Pacific University.
Croff was born in Portland to a black father
and white mother. She said her mother saw to it
that she was taught black history
and would check up to see what
she was learning in school. Af-
ter high school she went on to
study the African Diaspora Cul-
tures—which describes the mass
dispersion of people of African
descent during the Transatlantic
Slave Trades from the 1500s to
the 1800s—as an archaeologist
in Senegal and Guadaloupe, as
well as African American burial
grounds in the U.S.
After taking a job as a quali-
tative researcher at OHSU, Croff
conceived of the SHARP study
with the support of a trusted men-
tor who told her “why not?”
“That gave me the confidence
that there is a place for an anthro-
pologist in neuroscience. There
is a place for oral history. If it’s
aligned with participants’ cultur-
al worldview and their passion,
which is community, then there’s
a way,” she said.
Croff hopes the program,
which she says is highly adapt-
able, can eventually be used in
other cities impacted by similar
issues.
“Gentrification is happening
all over the U.S. and wouldn’t
this be a great way…to have
those people go through their his-
torical archives, just the way we
did, and form themed routes and
images and questions and be able
to do the study in their cities.”
The SHARP study was sup-
ported by funding from the
Alzheimer’s Association and
You are invited to join
Antioch Missionary Babtist Church
and
Greater Mt Gillard Missionary Baptist Church
Raina Croff, Ph.D., assistant professor of neurol-
ogy at OHSU, and designer of a program called
Sharing History through Active Reminiscence
and Photo imagery, or SHARP. The study focuses
on brain health while also serving as a way of
preserving the stories of community black elders.
performed out of OHSU’s Layton Aging & Alzhei-
mer’s Disease Center, one of the National Institute
of Health’s top ranked facilities of such research.
The original pilot program, which launched in 2016,
was supported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention.
For Vacation Bible School 2018
5935 North Minnesota Avenue
(corner of Minnesota and Ainsworth)
July 16 - July 20; 5:30-8:00 p.m.
Ages 3-Adult
(age appropriate lessons for everyone)
Activities, Refreshments, Crafts,
Fun & Fellowship