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Nguyen TA, Tran K, Esterman A, Brijnath B, Xiao LD, Schofield P, Bhar S, Wickramasinghe N, Sinclair R, Dang TH, Cullum S, Turana Y, Hinton L, Seeher K, Andrade AQ, 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. JMIR Res Protoc 2021; 10:e33572. [PMID: 34783660 PMCID: PMC8663455 DOI: 10.2196/33572] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2021] [Revised: 09/27/2021] [Accepted: 09/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
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. Trial Registration Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12621001452886; https://tinyurl.com/afum5tjz International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) PRR1-10.2196/33572
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Affiliation(s)
- Tuan Anh Nguyen
- Social Gerontology Division, National Ageing Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia.,UniSA Clinical and Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia.,Health Strategy and Policy Institute, Ministry of Health, Hanoi, Vietnam
| | - Kham Tran
- Social Gerontology Division, National Ageing Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia.,UniSA Clinical and Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
| | - Adrian Esterman
- UniSA Clinical and Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
| | - Bianca Brijnath
- Social Gerontology Division, National Ageing Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Lily Dongxia Xiao
- College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia
| | - Penelope Schofield
- Department of Psychology, School of Health Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Sunil Bhar
- Department of Psychology, School of Health Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Nilmini Wickramasinghe
- Department of Psychology, School of Health Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Ronald Sinclair
- Faculty of Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
| | - Thu Ha Dang
- Department of Psychology, School of Health Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Sarah Cullum
- Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Yuda Turana
- School of Medicine, Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia
| | - Ladson Hinton
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA, United States
| | - Katrin Seeher
- Department of Mental Health and Substance Use, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Andre Q Andrade
- Quality Use of Medicines and Pharmacy Research Centre, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
| | - Maria Crotty
- College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia
| | - Susan Kurrle
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Stefanie Freel
- Department of Germanic Languages and Literature, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Thang Pham
- Department of Neurology and Alzheimer Disease, Vietnam National Geriatric Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam
| | - Thanh Binh Nguyen
- Department of Neurology and Alzheimer Disease, Vietnam National Geriatric Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam
| | - Henry Brodaty
- Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
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