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Nguyen TA, Tran K, Esterman A, Brijnath B, Xiao L, Schofield P, Bhar S, Wickramasinghe N, Sinclair R, Dang TH, Cullum S, Turana Y, Hinton L, Seeher K, Andrade A, Crotty M, Kurrle S, Freel S, Pham T, Nguyen TB, Brodaty H
Empowering Dementia Carers With an iSupport Virtual Assistant (e-DiVA) in Asia-Pacific Regional Countries: Protocol for a Pilot Multisite Randomized Controlled Trial
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Empowering Dementia Carers with an iSupport Virtual Assistant (e-DiVA): Study protocol for a pilot randomised controlled trial in Asia Pacific Region countries
Tuan Anh Nguyen;
Kham Tran;
Adrian Esterman;
Bianca Brijnath;
Lily Xiao;
Penelope Schofield;
Sunil Bhar;
Nilmini Wickramasinghe;
Ron Sinclair;
Thu Ha Dang;
Sarah Cullum;
Yuda Turana;
Ladson Hinton;
Katrin Seeher;
Andre Andrade;
Maria Crotty;
Susan Kurrle;
Stefanie Freel;
Thang Pham;
Thanh Binh Nguyen;
Henry Brodaty
ABSTRACT
Background:
Dementia is a global public health priority with prevalence estimated to be 150 million by 2050; nearly two-thirds of whom will live in the Asia Pacific region. Dementia creates significant care needs for people with the disease, their families and carers. iSupport is a self-help platform developed by the World Health Organization to provide education, skills training and support to dementia carers. It has been adapted in some contexts (Australia, India, Netherland and Portugal). Carers using the existing adapted versions have identified the need to have a more user-friendly version that enables them to identify solutions for immediate problems in real-time quickly. The iSupport virtual assistant (iSupport VA) is being developed to address this gap and will be evaluated in a randomized controlled trial (RCT).
Objective:
This protocol outlines how a technologically enhanced version of the WHO iSupport program - the iSupport VA will be evaluated
Methods:
Seven versions of iSupport VA will be evaluated in Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand and Vietnam using a pilot RCT involving 140 carers (20 carers per iSupport VA version). Feasibility, acceptability, intention to use, and preliminary impact on carer perceived stress of the iSupport VA intervention will be assessed
Results:
Study findings from this intervention study will provide evidence on the feasibility and acceptability of the iSupport VA intervention, which will be the basis for conducting a full RCT to assess the effectiveness of the iSupport VA.
Conclusions:
The study will be an important reference for countries planning to adapt and enhance the WHO iSupport program using digital health solutions. Clinical Trial: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trial (http://www.anzctr.org.au), Identifier: 381146.
Citation
Please cite as:
Nguyen TA, Tran K, Esterman A, Brijnath B, Xiao L, Schofield P, Bhar S, Wickramasinghe N, Sinclair R, Dang TH, Cullum S, Turana Y, Hinton L, Seeher K, Andrade A, Crotty M, Kurrle S, Freel S, Pham T, Nguyen TB, Brodaty H
Empowering Dementia Carers With an iSupport Virtual Assistant (e-DiVA) in Asia-Pacific Regional Countries: Protocol for a Pilot Multisite Randomized Controlled Trial