JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

As the prevalence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) among older adults increases, so does the need to enhance social participation and cognitive functions through innovative interventions. Digital storytelling within group settings holds potential not only to foster social connections but also to integrate with traditional in-person activities, leveraging both for greater impact.

Objective:

This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of the Huiyou app in supporting group-based storytelling activities, aiming to enhance social participation for people with MCI. We focused on the app’s ability to improve storytelling goal attainment, social connectedness, self-efficacy, and subjective happiness, comparing these outcomes between the experimental and control groups.

Methods:

We randomly assigned 20 participants with MCI to either an intervention group or a control group, engaging them in the use of the Huiyou digital storytelling application over four weekly sessions of 45 minutes each. We measured outcomes through the Assessment of Life Habits (LIFE-H 77 items), particularly outdoor activities and interpersonal relationships; the Social Connectedness Scale-Revised (SCS-R 20 items); the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES 10 items), focusing on coping self-efficacy; and the Subjective Well-being Scale (SWBS 20 items), with a special emphasis on self-acceptance.

Results:

The sample featured an average age of 69.7 years (SD = 3.21), with no significant baseline differences between groups in age, gender, or educational background. Cognitive function, assessed via the MoCA-C, also showed no significant differences at baseline (p = .20). Specifically, significant enhancements in Outdoor Activity (value difference = 0.171, SD = 0.353, p = .031, Cohen’s d = 1.046) and in the Interpersonal Adaptation Experience of the SWBS (value difference = 0.167, SD = 0.247, p = .010, Cohen’s d = 1.290) were noted. Notably, storytelling performance improved markedly, evidenced by increases in story-sharing duration and complexity. Although overall improvements in LIFE-H, SCS, and SWBS scores were not statistically significant, the large effect sizes observed suggest potential benefits of the Huiyou app that might be obscured by the study’s small sample size.

Conclusions:

The study indicates that the Huiyou mobile storytelling application is feasible to enhance social participation and specific aspects of social functioning such as interpersonal adaption for people with MCI. Despite the lack of significant changes in overall scores for key scales, observed effect sizes highlight a positive trend that merits further investigation. These results advocate for the continuation of digital intervention development to improve quality of life and social integration for individuals with MCI. Clinical Trial: NA