VOCALE: A Digital Intervention to Improve Quality of Life and Reduce Frailty Among Older Adults in Retirement Communities

NCT07860892 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: R01AG088115
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 128
• Locations: 0 countries
• Sites: N/A

Brief Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether an 8-week online program called VOCALE can improve quality of life and reduce frailty in adults age 65 and older who live independently in retirement communities and have mild to moderate frailty. The main questions it aims to answer are:

• Does participating in VOCALE improve participants' quality of life?
• Does participating in VOCALE reduce frailty?
• Do changes in problem-solving skills, self-confidence in managing health, and social support help explain how VOCALE may affect quality of life and frailty? Researchers will compare participants in retirement communities assigned to the VOCALE program with participants in communities assigned to usual care and educational resources to see whether VOCALE improves quality of life and frailty. Participants will:
• Complete assessments of their health, quality of life, frailty, and related measures at the beginning of the study, after 8 weeks, and one month later.
• Complete physical performance assessments.
• If assigned to VOCALE, receive training on the online platform and participate in moderated online discussions about healthy aging, health challenges, and problem-solving for 8 weeks.
• If assigned to the comparison group, continue with usual care and receive educational materials and healthy aging resources.

Conditions

Frailty; Quality of Life

Keywords

Frailty; Retirement Community; CCRC; Behavioral; Online

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Health-related quality of life measured by the RAND 36-Item Health Survey (RAND-36)

  The RAND 36-Item Health Survey assesses health-related quality of life across eight domains, including physical functioning, bodily pain, role limitations, emotional well-being, social functioning, energy/fatigue, and general health. Scores are transformed to a 0-100 scale, with higher scores indicating better health-related quality of life.

  Baseline, 8 weeks, and 12 weeks (1-month follow-up)

Secondary Outcomes (5)

• Frailty measured by the Fried Frailty Phenotype

  Baseline, 8 weeks, and 12 weeks (1-month follow-up)

• Physical performance measured by the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB)

  Baseline, 8 weeks, and 12 weeks (1-month follow-up)

• Loneliness measured by the 3-item Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale

  Baseline, 8 weeks, and 12 weeks (1-month follow-up)

• Depressive symptoms measured by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D)

  Baseline, 8 weeks, and 12 weeks (1-month follow-up)

• Perceived stress measured by the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10)

  Baseline, 8 weeks, and 12 weeks (1-month follow-up)

Other Outcomes (3)

• Problem-solving skills measured by the Social Problem-Solving Inventory-Revised: Short Form (SPSI-R:S)

  Baseline, 5, 8 weeks, and 12 weeks (1-month follow-up)

• Social support measured by the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) Social Support Survey

  Baseline, 5, 8 and 12 weeks

• Self-efficacy measured by the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES)

  Baseline, 5, 8 and 12 weeks

Study Arms (2)

VOCALE AGING

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants assigned to the VOCALE intervention will receive an 8-week online, group-based program focused on healthy aging, frailty, and problem-solving. Participants will receive training on how to use the private online discussion platform and will be encouraged to access the platform at least twice per week. Weekly moderated discussions will address health challenges related to frailty and teach participants problem-solving skills using the ADAPT approach: adopting a positive attitude, defining the problem, brainstorming alternatives, predicting consequences, and trying out a solution. Participants may also receive technical support and additional training as needed.

Behavioral: VOCALE Healthy Aging Online Program

Control

NO INTERVENTION

Participants assigned to the control arm will continue to receive their usual care and services. They will also receive educational materials about self-management and problem-solving, along with a list of healthy aging resources from the National Institute on Aging. They will not participate in the VOCALE online discussion program during the study period.

Interventions

VOCALE Healthy Aging Online Program BEHAVIORAL

VOCALE Healthy Aging is an 8-week, group-based online behavioral intervention designed to support older adults with mild to moderate frailty. The intervention is delivered through a private, moderated online discussion platform and combines peer interaction with structured problem-solving training. Participants discuss common health and aging challenges and learn and practice the ADAPT problem-solving approach: adopting a positive attitude, defining the problem, brainstorming alternatives, predicting consequences, and trying out a chosen solution. Participants can access the platform asynchronously and receive training and technical support as needed.

VOCALE AGING

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• Age 65 years and older
• Evidence of mild to moderate frailty based on scores of 4-6 according to the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS)
• Resident in a retirement community in Seattle area

You may not qualify if:

• Having difficulty with basic activities of daily living such as eating and getting out of bed
• Having a Memory Impairment Screen for Telephone (MIS-T) score of \<3

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Washington: lead
• National Institute on Aging (NIA): collaborator

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Frailty; Behavior

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Pathologic Processes; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Study Officials

• Oleg Zaslavsky, PhD

  University of Washington

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Oleg Zaslavsky, PhD

CONTACT

2068493301; ozasl@uw.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: SUPPORTIVE CARE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: September 24, 2026
• First Posted: October 6, 2026
• Study Start (Estimated): January 15, 2027
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2030
• Study Completion (Estimated): January 30, 2031
• Last Updated: October 6, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-09