Feasibility and pilot randomised controlled trial of a co-designed home-based personalised reablement strategy program delivered via Voice-Controlled Intelligent Personal Assistants in older adults aged 60-89 years with mild cognitive impairment and/or dementia.

INTERVENTION: The intervention includes a 12‐week feasibility and pilot randomised controlled trial of a co‐designed home‐based personalised reablement strategy program delivered via Voice‐Controlled Intelligent Personal Assistants (VIPAs) in older adults aged 60 to 89 years with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and/or dementia. We used participatory research methods to co‐design the home‐based personalised reablement strategy program delivered by VIPA with end‐users (people with dementia/MCI aged 60 to 89 years and their carers) and stakeholders (health professionals that included psychologists, general practioners, occupational therapists and nurses.). Three co‐design workshops ( one hour each, 1 per phase) was conducted to identify intervention content, functionality, and features for the VIPA. These workshops were focused on ‘design‐thinking’ and coming to a consensus regarding the most appropriate and useful features to be included in a home‐based personalised reablement strategy program delivered by VIPA. The workshops were conducted online via Zoom. VIPA intervention participants will receive, via courier, a pre‐registered Amazon Alexa Echo Show 8 VIPA and will also be provided with instructions for them and/or their carer on connecting the device to their home WiFi, with additional support from an investigator if required. They will also receive access to our client facing Alexa software “My Training Buddy” to receive their personalised reablement strategy program. Using a person‐centred approach to care, participants and carers will complete a 30‐minute video conference consult with a clinical psychologist to capture clinical history, personal barriers/goals, and collaboratively develop two personally meaningful goals from the seven goals listed below, in rela CONDITION: Dementia;Mild cognitive impairment; ; Dementia ; Mild cognitive impairment Mental Health ‐ Other mental health disorders Neurological ‐ Dementias PRIMARY OUTCOME: Acceptability as measured by overall positive themes expressed by semi structured interviews. [At the completion of the study (12 week time‐point)] Feasibility as measured by completion of greater than or equal to 66% of the personalised reablement strategy program by accessing the Buddy Link platform to quantify the regularity with which participants engage in the audio, visual and written strategies delivered via VIPA.[Upon conclusion of the study (12 weeks post‐intervention commencement)] Feasibility as measured by greater than or equal to 70% retention in the study, this will be determined by an audit of the study database.; [Upon conclusion of the study (12 weeks post‐intervention commencement); ] INCLUSION CRITERIA: Prospective participants must meet the following criteria including English‐speaking, aged 60‐89 years, reside anywhere in Australia, have a recent (less than 6 months) clinical diagnosis of early dementia (any type) or MCI by a Cognitive, Dementia and Memory Service (CDAMS) Clinic, Neuropsychologist or General Practitioner; have a home Wi‐Fi network and smart devices and have a primary carer with at least 50% close contact during the 12‐week period. SECONDARY OUTCOME: Overall system Usability as measured by the system usability scale ; [Upon conclusion of the study (12 weeks post‐intervention commencement) ; ] To compare changes in scores on the Bayar Activities of Daily Living Scale as a measure of functional independence[Baseline and follow‐up (12 weeks post‐intervention commencement) ; ] To compare changes in scores on the Everyday Cognition Scale as a measure of cognitively mediated functional abilities[Baseline and follow‐up (12 weeks post‐intervention commencement) ; ] To compare changes in scores on the Goal Attainment Scale to calculate the extent to which a patient’s goals are met.[Baseline and follow‐up (12 weeks post‐intervention commencement) ; ] To compare changes in scores on the Illness Cognition Questionnaire as a measure of abnormal illness belief and behaviour.[Baseline and follow‐up (12 weeks post‐intervention commencement) ; ] To compare changes in scores on the Multifactorial Meta Cognition Questionnaire to assess several dimensions of metacognition thought to be relevant to psychopathology[Baseline and follow‐up (12 weeks post‐intervention commencement) ; ] To compare changes in scores on the Short Form Geriatric Depression Scale as a measure of depression[Baseline and follow‐up (12 weeks post‐intervention commencement) ; ] To compare changes in scores on the Zarit Burden Scale (carer only) as a measure of caregiver burden[Baseline and follow‐up (12 weeks post‐intervention commencement) ; ]