Intelligent Personal Assistant for Managing Depression in Homebound Older Adults

Northwestern University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Aging; Physical Dependence

Treatments: Behavioral: VIPA and companion booklet

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04900272

STU00212384

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of this study is to design a companion booklet and pilot test it with a voice-controlled intelligent personal assistants (VIPA), like Google Home or Amazon Alexa, to provide homebound older adult patients with skills and tools to help manage social isolation.

Full description

The objective of this pilot study is to design a companion booklet and pilot test it with a voice-controlled intelligent personal assistant (VIPA), Google Home or Amazon Alexa, to provide patients with skills and tools to help manage their social isolation. The companion booklet is a document that will be created using feedback obtained from a panel of geriatric experts, highlighting features of the VIPA that may be most beneficial to socially-isolated older adults. It will be submitted to the IRB for approval once finalized. The specific aims of this project are to:

Aim 1: Design a companion booklet to be used in conjunction with a VIPA (Google Home/Amazon Alexa) for improving social isolation and communication among homebound older adults, defined as someone who is unable to leave the home without assistance of a device or another person, due to a physical or cognitive condition.

Aim 2: Assess the feasibility and implementation of the VIPA (Google Home/Amazon Alexa) and the companion booklet and its impact on clinical and functional outcomes for older adults with social isolation.

Enrollment: 21 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 65+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Adults aged 65 years or older;
• Homebound patients of the Northwestern Medicine Geriatrics Program;
• English-speaking; and
• Able to verbally consent

Exclusion criteria

• Condition that limits ability to consent, such as severe cognitive impairment or lack of English proficiency
• Less than 65 years of age

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

---

21 participants in 1 patient group

VIPA device and companion booklet

Experimental group

Description:

For Aim 2, we will recruit a total of 20-40 older adult homebound patients who are likely to be socially isolated, through the Geriatric and General Internal Medicine clinics at Northwestern (over 2,300 homebound older adults) to use the VIPA and accompanying instructional booklet focused on social-isolation. Either the study PI or Research Study Coordinator (RSC) will visit the participant's home, or assist the patient virtually, once consented, to set up the Google Home or Amazon Alexa device for them and review the companion VIPA booklet with them.

Treatment:

Behavioral: VIPA and companion booklet