Reducing Loneliness of Older Adults in Long Term Care Facilities through Collaborative Augmented Reality

Social connection is a critical health determinant essential in preventing loneliness (feeling of being alone or isolated).

Loneliness is common among older adults with adverse consequences: increased risk of cardiovascular disease, depression, suicide, cognitive and physical decline, healthcare utilization and mortality.

Long term care (LTC) residents are particularly prone to loneliness compared to older adults in the community (75% versus 43%): (1) >50% LTC residents have cognitive impairment or diagnosis of dementia, of which Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common diagnosis (60-80%), and (2) loneliness is highly correlated with AD given its high prevalence of apathy (72%) and depression (40%).

Maintaining social networks is critical in delaying further dementia progression and adverse events in AD.

Interactive communication technology (ICT) interventions, such as social media and video-mediated visits, have recently been examined for their effects on loneliness among older adults with mixed results. One potential explanation is the lack of attention to social presence within the various ICTs.

Social presence is the quality of the ICT as well as the participant’s perceptions that others are physically present in the mediated interaction. ICT satisfaction is based largely on the quality of the social presence afforded.

Our long term goal is to maximize social connection and engagement through the use of head mounted display augmented reality (HMD-AR), thereby reducing loneliness among older adults in LTC, especially for those with AD.

The purpose of this Stage 1 pilot study is to co-create HMD-AR activities with older adults and their families, determine feasibility, acceptability and satisfaction, and explore factors that influence acceptance and usability.

The specific aims are (1) to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and satisfaction of co-created collaborative HMD-AR activities versus 2D audio-visual ICT among older adults with and without AD, their family member and LTC staff; and (2) to explore facilitators and barriers of HMD-AR implementation.

We will recruit 8 older adult LTC residents and 8 family members to participate in 5 participatory-research sessions over 6 months to create a menu of collaborative HMD-AR activities.

We will enroll 24 older adult LTC residents (8 with normal cognition, 8 with mild cognitive impairment, and 8 with mild stage AD) and a designated family member. Each older adult-family pair will participate in 8 sessions over 4 weeks using a 2-arm RCT design. Participants will be randomized to either 2D audio-visual ICT or HMD-AR.

Our central hypothesis is that HMD-AR technology with a high social presence will result in better outcomes than 2D technology with lower social presence.

Primary outcomes include feasibility, acceptability and satisfaction collected via qualitative and quantitative measures. The secondary outcome is loneliness, measured at baseline, after each session, at Week 4 and at Week 6.

Last, one-on-one interviews will be conducted with older adults, family members and LTC staff to determine barriers and facilitators to HMD-AR use.

Findings will inform the design and implementation of a Stage II study using HMD-AR to address loneliness among LTC AD adults.