McKinley Joseph, Brumley Alice W, Williams Christine L, Tognoli Emmanuelle, Beetle Christopher
Department of Physics, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, USA.
Center for Complex Systems and Brain Sciences, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, USA.
Alzheimers Dement. 2025 Apr;21(4):e70131. doi: 10.1002/alz.70131.
Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) is exacerbated by social isolation. One potential intervention for improving the health outcomes of individuals with ADRD is by providing opportunities for socialization that are highly engaging.
To identify strategies for enhancing social engagement, we studied recorded virtual group sessions of older adults aged ≥ 65, with mild to moderate ADRD who interacted with younger adult facilitators. We developed multivariate regression models that use data describing group behavior, activity, and composition to predict enhanced engagement.
We identified predictors of enhanced engagement related to group composition, structure, leadership, and mode of delivery. These results inform strategies for designing group settings which maximize engagement by using the synergistic influence of whole social groups on individuals.
We make evidence-based treatment recommendations for facilitators seeking to maximize engagement and make recommendations for future research investigating the preservation or loss of social engagement.
Social isolation is a major contributing factor to the development of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. Virtual socialization can help mitigate lack of opportunity for social contact. Audio-video data describing group activity were used to predict social engagement. Group size, behavior, composition, and time spoken contributed to social engagement. Experienced group facilitators maximized engagement by supporting conversation.
社交隔离会加剧阿尔茨海默病及相关痴呆症（ADRD）。一种改善ADRD患者健康状况的潜在干预措施是提供高度吸引人的社交机会。
为了确定增强社交参与度的策略，我们研究了年龄≥65岁、患有轻度至中度ADRD的老年人与年轻成人 facilitator 互动的虚拟小组会议记录。我们开发了多变量回归模型，利用描述小组行为、活动和组成的数据来预测参与度的提高。
我们确定了与小组组成、结构、领导和交付方式相关的参与度提高的预测因素。这些结果为设计小组环境的策略提供了信息，通过利用整个社会群体对个体的协同影响来最大限度地提高参与度。
我们为寻求最大限度提高参与度的 facilitator 提出基于证据的治疗建议，并为未来研究社交参与度的保持或丧失提出建议。
社交隔离是阿尔茨海默病及相关痴呆症发展的一个主要促成因素。虚拟社交可以帮助缓解社交接触机会的缺乏。描述小组活动的音频视频数据被用来预测社交参与度。小组规模、行为、组成和发言时间有助于社交参与度。经验丰富的小组 facilitator 通过支持对话最大限度地提高了参与度。
