Connecting Today to Combat Social Isolation and Loneliness

NCT07182019 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: Pro00152323
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 320
• Locations: 0 countries
• Sites: N/A

Brief Summary

The investigators developed Connecting Today, a feasible and highly acceptable remote visiting program that can support care home residents living with moderate to severe dementia to have video calls with their family members, friends, or care partners. The investigators will recruit 80 residents from 4 care homes, and their family members, friends, or care partners. All participants will be offered 60 minutes of Connecting Today per week for 6 weeks (in either the intervention group, or in the wait-list control group). An onsite care provider will be trained to tailor the video calls, and facilitate positive verbal and non-verbal engagement during the calls. The investigators will evaluate how Connecting Today affects outcomes for residents (quality of life, loneliness, and responsive behaviours) and their remote visitors (quality of life, loneliness, and social support). The investigators will assess how outcomes differ for men, women, and people with different perceptions and experiences of Connecting Today.

Conditions

Dementia in Nursing Home; Family; Remote Visits

Keywords

Quality of life; Loneliness; Social support

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Change in the Dementia Quality of Life Instrument (DEMQOL- proxy) total score.

  Resident quality of life will be measured with the Dementia Quality of Life Instrument (DEMQOL- proxy) total score (completed by a family/friend who knows the person living with dementia well). A sum of 31 items (rated on a 4-point scale) generates the total score, where 31 is the worst possible quality of life and 124 is the best possible quality of life. Items relate to how the person living with dementia feels about their daily activities, health and well-being, cognitive functioning, social relationships, and self-concept.

  Baseline (T0), after 6 weeks of intervention delivery to the treatment group (T1), and after 6 weeks of intervention delivery to the control group (T2).

• Change in the Dementia Quality of Life - Care Home Instrument (DEMQOL- CH) total score.

  The Dementia Quality of Life - Care Home instrument (DEMQOL-CH) is a quality of life assessment tool for people living with dementia that is completed by care home staff (i.e. research nurse). There are 31 items rated on a 4-point scale (total score 31-124), where 31 is the worst possible quality of life and 124 is the best possible quality of life.

  Baseline (T0), after 6 weeks of intervention delivery to the treatment group (T1), and after 6 weeks of intervention delivery to the control group (T2).

• Change in the the Quality of Life - Aged Care Consumers (QOL-ACC- proxy) total score.

  Resident quality of life will be measured using the Quality of Life - Aged Care Consumers (QOL-ACC-proxy). It is completed by someone who knows the resident well (in this study both a family/friend proxy and research nurse will complete the measure), and includes questions on health-related and psychosocial aspects of quality of life. There are 6 questions that are answered on a 5 point scale. Total scores range from 0 to 24, with higher scores indicating better quality of life.

  Baseline (T0), after 6 weeks of intervention delivery to the treatment group (T1), and after 6 weeks of intervention delivery to the control group (T2).

Secondary Outcomes (11)

• Change in single item from the Dementia Quality of Life Instrument (DEMQOL- proxy)

  Baseline (T0), after 6 weeks of intervention delivery to the treatment group (T1), and after 6 weeks of intervention delivery to the control group (T2).

• Change in a single item from the Dementia Quality of Life - Care Home Instrument (DEMQOL- CH)

  Baseline (T0), after 6 weeks of intervention delivery to the treatment group (T1), and after 6 weeks of intervention delivery to the control group (T2).

• Change in three items from the Dementia Quality of Life Instrument (DEMQOL- proxy)

  Baseline (T0), after 6 weeks of intervention delivery to the treatment group (T1), and after 6 weeks of intervention delivery to the control group (T2).

• Change in three items from the Dementia Quality of Life - Care Home Instrument (DEMQOL- CH)

  Baseline (T0), after 6 weeks of intervention delivery to the treatment group (T1), and after 6 weeks of intervention delivery to the control group (T2).

• Change in the Social Connection In Long-Term Care Home Residents (SONNET) Scale-proxy

  Baseline (T0), after 6 weeks of intervention delivery to the treatment group (T1), and after 6 weeks of intervention delivery to the control group (T2).

Study Arms (2)

Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

The intervention group will receive the Connecting Today intervention for 6 weeks following T0 (i.e. the first outcome data collection period).

Behavioral: Connecting Today

Control

NO INTERVENTION

The control group will not receive the Connecting Today intervention after T0. They are a waitlist control, so will receive the Connecting Today intervention after T1 (i.e. after the second outcome data collection period). Data collection for outcome variables will be the same as participants in the intervention group. The only difference between groups is timing of the intervention.

Interventions

Connecting Today BEHAVIORAL

Connecting today is a facilitated remote visiting program for people living with moderate to severe dementia in care homes. The program offers residents up to 60 minutes of scheduled contact with a family member, friend or volunteer by video call. An onsite facilitator supports the video calls which are delivered via ipad/zoom.

Intervention

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 65 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Residents:
• are at least 65 years old
• are diagnosed with any type of dementia
• have a Cognitive Performance Score (CPS) indicating moderate to severe impairment (CPS 3-6).
• to participate, residents must also have people that self identify as a family member or friend of the person with dementia.
• Remote visitors:
• are people that self-identify as a family member or friend of the person with dementia
• are people with whom the person with dementia desires contact
• are 18 or older
• understand and speak English.

You may not qualify if:

• All remote visitors are required to understand and speak English as this is necessary for the facilitator to support the call and for data to be collected.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Alberta: lead
• Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR): collaborator

Study Officials

• Hannah O'Rourke, PhD

  University of Alberta

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Matthias Hoben, Dr rer medic

  York University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Shelley Peacock, PhD

  University of Saskatchewan

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Hannah O'Rourke, PhD

CONTACT

780-492-7961; hannah.orourke@ualberta.ca

Jennifer Swindle, PhD

CONTACT

780-492-7080; jennifer.swindle@ualberta.ca

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Masking Details: The data analyst will also be masked.
• Purpose: SUPPORTIVE CARE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: September 16, 2025
• First Posted: September 19, 2025
• Study Start: April 13, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): September 30, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): September 30, 2026
• Last Updated: March 13, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-03

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share