BabaCare: Testing a Care Copilot

NCT07689526 | Recruiting

• 2 other identifiers: IRB00533251P30AG073104
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 40
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Baba is a novel AI "care copilot" designed to improve emotional well-being, cognitive stimulation, and social connection through emotionally present conversations, proactive engagement, and personalized communication. Unlike many existing solutions, Baba operates through SMS text and voice calls, requiring no apps, Wi-Fi, or new devices, making it particularly accessible to older adults.

Conditions

Mood; Loneliness

Keywords

Loneliness in older adults

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Loneliness as assessed by the UCLA Loneliness Scale

  Pre- and post-pilot assessments will measure changes in self-reported loneliness (UCLA Loneliness Scale). Score range 20-80, higher score worse loneliness.

  12 weeks

• Mood as assessed by the Patient Health Questionnare (PHQ-9)

  Pre- and post-pilot assessments will measure changes in self-reported mood (PHQ-9 or GDS). Total score range 0 to 27, with higher score indicating more severe depressive symptoms

  12 weeks

• Mood as assessed by the Geriatric Depression scale (GDS)

  Pre- and post-pilot assessments will measure changes in self-reported mood Total score range 0-15, with higher score indicating worse depression. A score ≥ 5 typically suggests depression.

  12 weeks

Study Arms (1)

Receives calls from BABA

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants will receive daily or near-daily AI calls over a 12 week period.

Other: AI phone companion

Interventions

AI phone companion OTHER

Baba uses a fine-tuned large language model to hold conversations with older adults and analyze tone, sentiment shifts, and emotional cues. The system logs call summaries and risk flags for caregiver review and tracks changes over time.

Receives calls from BABA

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 65 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Lives alone
• Responds "occasionally" or "most" to the exhaustion questionnaire:
• "How often in the last week did you feel that everything you did was an effort?"
• "How often in the last week did you feel that you could not get going?"
• Willingness and ability to regularly engage with Baba for 12 weeks

You may not qualify if:

• Significant cognitive impairment that prevents consent or participation
• Inability to communicate via SMS or phone
• Severe hearing or speech impairment precluding use of voice interaction

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute on Aging (NIA): collaborator
• Johns Hopkins University: lead
• Baba Care, Inc.: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Johns Hopkins Bayview Campus

Baltimore, Maryland, 21224, United States

RECRUITING

Related Publications (1)

• Perissinotto CM, Stijacic Cenzer I, Covinsky KE. Loneliness in older persons: a predictor of functional decline and death. Arch Intern Med. 2012 Jul 23;172(14):1078-83. doi: 10.1001/archinternmed.2012.1993.

  PMID: 22710744 BACKGROUND

Study Officials

• Peter M Abadir, M.D.

  Johns Hopkins University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

JACQUELINE M LANGDON, M.S.

CONTACT

410-550-2052; jlangdon@jhmi.edu

Peter M Abadir, M.D.

CONTACT

410-550-0576; pabadir1@jh.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 1, 2026
• First Posted: July 8, 2026
• Study Start: July 13, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): June 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 1, 2027
• Last Updated: August 5, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-08

Locations

US (1)