Empowering Dementia Carers With an iSupport Virtual Assistant (e-DiVA) in Asia-Pacific Regional Countries: Protocol for a Pilot Multisite Randomized Controlled Trial

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

Inclusive dementia care for ethnically diverse families

“…While it is crucial that this technological uptake be harnessed to innovate for dementia, this has yet to fully occur [52]. Research remains nascent in this space though there are several trials and other studies underway to explore technologies and digital media's impact on care outcomes [see for example: [53 ▪ ,54,55 ▪ ]). The current evidence suggests a moderate to strong effect of digital interventions on family carers’ mental health, but this evidence is strongest for various forms of telephone-based interventions and where study participants were overwhelmingly white women [56].…”

A national program to advance dementia research in Vietnam

“…Apart from our current pilot program, there is a handful of dementia research capacity building initiatives in Vietnam, including those in our NHMRC-NAFOSTED project (APP1154644) to develop Vietnam’s National Dementia Plan [ 2 ] and NHMRC-eASIA project (APP2001548) to develop and test an iSupport Virtual Assistant to empower dementia caregivers in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, and Vietnam [ 16 ]. In the former, the dementia research capacity was built using “hands-on” training on policy, epidemiological and qualitative analyses.…”

Adapting the World Health Organization iSupport Dementia program to the Indonesian socio-cultural context

“…The cultural adaptation of an intervention program is systematically adjusting its elements to the language, culture, and context to match a particular group's cultural patterns, meanings, and values ( 16 – 18 ). This paper describes the development of the culturally adapted version of the WHO iSupport program for family caregivers of PwD within the Indonesian context, through 5 stages including: assessment, content translation, cultural adaptation, expert panel appraisal and fidelity check, as part of the e-DiVA project to develop an iSupport Virtual Assistant to support family caregivers of PwD in Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand and Vietnam ( 19 ).…”