Managing Cognitive Decline Through a Social Robot-Based Intervention: Protocol for the engAGE Proof of Concept and Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND

Dementia is challenging society in terms of the quality of life, the costs of health care systems, and caregivers' burden. Dementia is often preceded by a status of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), during which a healthy lifestyle and cognitive therapy seem to be effective in counteracting the decline.

OBJECTIVE

The engAGE (Managing Cognitive Decline Through Theatre Therapy, Artificial Intelligence, and Social Robot-Driven Interventions) project aimed to build a technological platform to counteract cognitive decline in older adults with MCI through both cognitive therapy and lifestyle management.

METHODS

The engAGE platform was built around the social robot Pepper, which provides cognitive therapy. An activity tracker and a mobile app were also integrated within the platform to help older adults with MCI monitor their sleep and physical activity, in addition to offering cognitive games at home. The proof of concept (PoC) of engAGE was designed as a 6-month long randomized controlled trial (RCT) aimed to test the solution in three European countries: Italy, Switzerland, and Norway. During this period, under the supervision of a psychologist or a therapist, Pepper provided cognitive therapy on a weekly basis at health care or daycare facilities. In parallel, the use of the mobile app and the activity tracker was recommended on a daily basis. Participants were recruited through health care institutions and care organizations and evaluated through face-to-face interviews. The primary interest of the study was to assess the impact of engAGE on cognitive capacity through the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and the Memory Assessment Clinic Questionnaire (MAC-Q). In addition, changes in social engagement and quality of life were measured through the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness Scale and the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS). The PoC also focused on the acceptability and usability of engAGE, evaluated through the System Usability Scale (SUS) and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) questionnaire. In addition, data were collected regarding the frequency of weekly sessions and access to the mobile app, as well as activity tracker measurements.

RESULTS

Data collection commenced in November 2023 and finished in July 2024, with the enrollment of 49 older adults with MCI (n=40, 81.6%, assigned to the experimental group [EG] and n=9, 18.4%, to the control group [CG]) conducted from October 2023 to April 2024. Data analysis was concluded in November 2024, and results will be published by 2026.

CONCLUSIONS

The engAGE PoC represents an innovative study focused on the impact of a technology-based multidomain intervention designed for older adults with MCI that aimed to counteract cognitive decline through cognitive training, as well as improvement in terms of the quality of life, social engagement, physical activity, and sleep quality of primary end users.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06302686; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06302686.

INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): RR1-10.2196/67601.