Who is involved?
Younger people age >18* and older people in San Francisco are invited to participate in our study of the MISCI program. This project began under the umbrella of the Atlantic Fellowship for Equity in Brain Health at the Global Brain Health Institute based at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center and Trinity College, Dublin with a multidisciplinary research team. Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly (LBFE) and OpenHouse are our community-based partners focused on older people in San Francisco. Students at San Francisco State University, University of San Francisco, and Minerva University participate regularly as younger participants, as do many in our community. Since 2019, the program has engaged and followed over 100 older people and nearly 200 younger people working in intergenerational groups.

Our program receives financial support from
- The Global Brain Health Institute, Alzheimer's Association, Alzheimer's UK, the Atlantic Institute, and Alzheimer's Society Pilot Award for Global Brain Health Leaders
- City and County of San Francisco via the Department of Aging and Adult Services
People ages 18+* may be eligible to participate in MISCI for Creative Engagement (MISCI-CE) program with the following features
Adapted to mitigate risk of infection through use of phone and online conferencing
Develop your project together with your MISCI partners in 10 one-hour in person or virtual meetings over the course of the session. Connect with other students and project leads for additional training, trouble-shooting, and mutual support. Share the creative project at the final celebration.
In short journal entries, ongoing coaching and training, and brief surveys, consolidate your learning.
Participants who complete the program successfully and attend mid-program training opportunities will earn a MISCI-CE Certificate from the Global Brain Health Institute. For details, look at our MISCI-CE Certification requirements.
Younger participants engage in
- Two and half hours of pre-program training
- Up to five hours of mid-program training or coaching sessions
- Ten weekly project development meetings
- Ten brief post-visit journal entries taking no more than thirty minutes per entry
- One celebration conference call
for a total of 19 to 24 hours of total time commitment over the course of three months. Feel fee to look at the current draft of our Spring 2023 MISCI Program Schedule, but please note that dates and times may shift between now and February.
*A select number of people aged 16-17 may also be eligible to participate with permission from a parent/guardian.
- Perissinotto, Carla M., Irena Stijacic Cenzer, and Kenneth E. Covinsky. 2012 Loneliness in Older Persons: A Predictor of Functional Decline and Death. Archives of Internal Medicine 172(14): 1078–1083.
- Livingston, Gill, Andrew Sommerlad, Vasiliki Orgeta, et al. 2017. Dementia Prevention, Intervention, and Care. The Lancet. http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0140673617313636, accessed November 9, 2017.
- Norton, S., Matthews, F. E., Barnes, D. E., Yaffe, K. & Brayne, C. Potential for primary prevention of Alzheimer’s disease: an analysis of population-based data. The Lancet Neurology13, 788–794 (2014).
- AARP Global Council on Brain Health. The Brain and Social Connectedness: GCBH Recommendations on Social Engagement and Brain Health. https://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/health/brain_health/2017/02/gcbh-social-engagement-report.pdf
- McHugh, J., Lee, O., Aspell, N., Lawlor, B. A., & Brennan, S. (2015). A shared mealtime approach to improving social and nutritional functioning among older adults living alone: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. JMIR Research Protocols, 4(2), e43. https://doi.org/10.2196/resprot.4050