Connecting Today to Combat Social Isolation and Loneliness
Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phaseNot applicable
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age65+
SponsorUniversity of Alberta
About this trial
The investigators developed Connecting Today, a feasible and highly acceptable remote visiting program that can support care home residents living with moderate to severe dementia to have video calls with their family members, friends, or care partners. The investigators will recruit 80 residents from 4 care homes, and their family members, friends, or care partners. All participants will be offered 60 minutes of Connecting Today per week for 6 weeks (in either the intervention group, or in the wait-list control group). An onsite care provider will be trained to tailor the video calls, and facilitate positive verbal and non-verbal engagement during the calls. The investigators will evaluate how Connecting Today affects outcomes for residents (quality of life, loneliness, and responsive behaviours) and their remote visitors (quality of life, loneliness, and social support). The investigators will assess how outcomes differ for men, women, and people with different perceptions and experiences of Connecting Today.
Eligibility criteria
This trial does not accept healthy volunteersQualifiers
are at least 65 years old
are diagnosed with any type of dementia
have a Cognitive Performance Score (CPS) indicating moderate to severe impairment (CPS 3-6).
to participate, residents must also have people that self identify as a family member or friend of the person with dementia.
Disqualifiers
All remote visitors are required to understand and speak English as this is necessary for the facilitator to support the call and for data to be collected.
Trial design
Design model
Parallel
Treatments tested in this trial
Connecting Today
BehavioralConnecting today is a facilitated remote visiting program for people living with moderate to severe dementia in care homes. The program offers residents up to 60 minutes of scheduled contact with a family member, friend or volunteer by video call. An onsite facilitator supports the video calls which are delivered via ipad/zoom.
Treatment groups
320 Participants
are divided into 2 treatment groupsGroup A: InterventionExperimental treatment 1 intervention
Group B: ControlNo intervention 0 interventions
Trial outcomes
Primary outcomes
1
Change in the Dementia Quality of Life Instrument (DEMQOL- proxy) total score.
Resident quality of life will be measured with the Dementia Quality of Life Instrument (DEMQOL- proxy) total score (completed by a family/friend who knows the person living with dementia well). A sum of 31 items (rated on a 4-point scale) generates the total score, where 31 is the worst possible quality of life and 124 is the best possible quality of life. Items relate to how the person living with dementia feels about their daily activities, health and well-being, cognitive functioning, social relationships, and self-concept.
Time frame
Baseline (T0), after 6 weeks of intervention delivery to the treatment group (T1), and after 6 weeks of intervention delivery to the control group (T2).2
Change in the Dementia Quality of Life - Care Home Instrument (DEMQOL- CH) total score.
The Dementia Quality of Life - Care Home instrument (DEMQOL-CH) is a quality of life assessment tool for people living with dementia that is completed by care home staff (i.e. research nurse). There are 31 items rated on a 4-point scale (total score 31-124), where 31 is the worst possible quality of life and 124 is the best possible quality of life.
Time frame
Baseline (T0), after 6 weeks of intervention delivery to the treatment group (T1), and after 6 weeks of intervention delivery to the control group (T2).3
Change in the the Quality of Life - Aged Care Consumers (QOL-ACC- proxy) total score.
Resident quality of life will be measured using the Quality of Life - Aged Care Consumers (QOL-ACC-proxy). It is completed by someone who knows the resident well (in this study both a family/friend proxy and research nurse will complete the measure), and includes questions on health-related and psychosocial aspects of quality of life. There are 6 questions that are answered on a 5 point scale. Total scores range from 0 to 24, with higher scores indicating better quality of life.
Time frame
Baseline (T0), after 6 weeks of intervention delivery to the treatment group (T1), and after 6 weeks of intervention delivery to the control group (T2).Secondary outcomes
1
Change in single item from the Dementia Quality of Life Instrument (DEMQOL- proxy)
Resident global quality of life will be measured with a single item from the Dementia Quality of Life Instrument (DEMQOL- proxy) completed by a family/friend who knows the person living with dementia well. The single item rates quality of life overall, and is rated on a 4-point scale (total score 1-4), where higher scores indicate higher quality of life.
Time frame
Baseline (T0), after 6 weeks of intervention delivery to the treatment group (T1), and after 6 weeks of intervention delivery to the control group (T2).2
Change in a single item from the Dementia Quality of Life - Care Home Instrument (DEMQOL- CH)
Resident global quality of life will be measured with a single item from the Dementia Quality of Life - Care Home Instrument (DEMQOL- CH) completed by care home staff (i.e. research nurse) who knows the person living with dementia well. The single item rates quality of life overall and is rated on a 4-point scale (total score 1-4), where higher scores indicate higher quality of life.
Time frame
Baseline (T0), after 6 weeks of intervention delivery to the treatment group (T1), and after 6 weeks of intervention delivery to the control group (T2).3
Change in three items from the Dementia Quality of Life Instrument (DEMQOL- proxy)
Resident loneliness will be measured with three items from the Dementia Quality of Life Instrument (DEMQOL- proxy) (completed by a family/friend who knows the person living with dementia well). These include worries about: (1) getting in touch with people; (2) not having enough company; (3) not being able to help other people. Each item is rated on a 4-point scale (total score 1-4), with higher scores indicating less loneliness. Each will be analyzed as single items.
Time frame
Baseline (T0), after 6 weeks of intervention delivery to the treatment group (T1), and after 6 weeks of intervention delivery to the control group (T2).4
Change in three items from the Dementia Quality of Life - Care Home Instrument (DEMQOL- CH)
Resident loneliness will be measured with three items from the Dementia Quality of Life - Care Home Instrument (DEMQOL- CH) completed by care home staff (i.e. research nurse) who knows the person living with dementia well. These include worries about: (1) getting in touch with people; (2) not having enough company; (3) not being able to help other people. Each item is rated on a 4-point scale (total score 1-4), with higher scores indicating less loneliness. Each will be analyzed as single items.
Time frame
Baseline (T0), after 6 weeks of intervention delivery to the treatment group (T1), and after 6 weeks of intervention delivery to the control group (T2).Sponsors and contacts
Click on the lead sponsor to view all of their trials.
University of Alberta
Lead sponsor
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
Collaborator
Source ClinicalTrials.gov