TY - JOUR
T1 - Empowering Dementia Carers With an iSupport Virtual Assistant (e-DiVA) in Asia-Pacific Regional Countries
T2 - Protocol for a Pilot Multisite Randomized Controlled Trial
AU - Nguyen, Tuan Anh
AU - Tran, Kham
AU - Esterman, Adrian
AU - Brijnath, Bianca
AU - Xiao, Lily Dongxia
AU - Schofield, Penelope
AU - Bhar, Sunil
AU - Wickramasinghe, Nilmini
AU - Sinclair, Ronald
AU - Dang, Thu Ha
AU - Cullum, Sarah
AU - Turana, Yuda
AU - Hinton, Ladson
AU - Seeher, Katrin
AU - Andrade, Andre Q.
AU - Crotty, Maria
AU - Kurrle, Susan
AU - Freel, Stefanie
AU - Pham, Thang
AU - Nguyen, Thanh Binh
AU - Brodaty, Henry
PY - 2021/11
Y1 - 2021/11
N2 - Background: Dementia is a global public health priority with an estimated prevalence of 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 (WHO) to provide education, skills training, and support to dementia carers. It has been adapted in some contexts (Australia, India, the Netherlands, 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 quickly in real time. 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 paper reports the protocol of a pilot RCT evaluating the iSupport VA. Methods: Seven versions of iSupport VA will be evaluated in Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Vietnam in a pilot RCT. Feasibility, acceptability, intention to use, and preliminary impact on carer-perceived stress of the iSupport VA intervention will be assessed. Results: This study was funded by the e-ASIA Joint Research Program in November 2020. From January to July 2023, we will enroll 140 dementia carers (20 carers per iSupport VA version) for the pilot RCT. The study has been approved by the Human Research Committee, University of South Australia, Australia (203455). Conclusions: This protocol outlines how a technologically enhanced version of the WHO iSupport program-the iSupport VA-will be evaluated. The 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. The study will be an important reference for countries planning to adapt and enhance the WHO iSupport program using digital health solutions.
AB - Background: Dementia is a global public health priority with an estimated prevalence of 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 (WHO) to provide education, skills training, and support to dementia carers. It has been adapted in some contexts (Australia, India, the Netherlands, 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 quickly in real time. 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 paper reports the protocol of a pilot RCT evaluating the iSupport VA. Methods: Seven versions of iSupport VA will be evaluated in Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Vietnam in a pilot RCT. Feasibility, acceptability, intention to use, and preliminary impact on carer-perceived stress of the iSupport VA intervention will be assessed. Results: This study was funded by the e-ASIA Joint Research Program in November 2020. From January to July 2023, we will enroll 140 dementia carers (20 carers per iSupport VA version) for the pilot RCT. The study has been approved by the Human Research Committee, University of South Australia, Australia (203455). Conclusions: This protocol outlines how a technologically enhanced version of the WHO iSupport program-the iSupport VA-will be evaluated. The 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. The study will be an important reference for countries planning to adapt and enhance the WHO iSupport program using digital health solutions.
KW - Dementia
KW - Digital health
KW - Informal carer
KW - ISupport
KW - Virtual assistant
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85120426175&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://purl.org/au-research/grants/NHMRC/2001548
UR - http://purl.org/au-research/grants/NHMRC/1103860
UR - http://purl.org/au-research/grants/NHMRC/1154644
U2 - 10.2196/33572
DO - 10.2196/33572
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85120426175
SN - 1929-0748
VL - 10
JO - Journal of Medical Internet Research: Research Protocols
JF - Journal of Medical Internet Research: Research Protocols
IS - 11
M1 - e33572
ER -