None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Dementia Australia and Deakin University propose to pilot an artificially intelligent Avatar conversational agent called ‘Talk with Ted’ as a learning tool for aged-care staff capacity development. This project aims to contribute to the aged-care sector’s caregiving workforce capability and capacity by implementing evidence-based learning that leads to scalable and translatable solutions and improvements in service delivery, promotes the adoption of technology, and ultimately leads to an improvement in the quality of care experienced by those living with dementia. The project aims to address the following questions: a) Does Ted promote caregivers’ understanding of the impact of positive communication on a person living with dementia? b) Does interaction with Ted influence caregivers’ communication with a person living with dementia? c) What are caregivers’ perceptions of the feasibility of use of Ted in the residential aged care setting? d) What are caregivers’ perceptions of the feasibility of the implementation process? Findings from this study will inform implementation and methodology, including sample size calculations, for a definitive effectiveness study in the future.
Interventions
The Dementia Australia “Talk with Ted” avatar training.
a. What it involves: “Talk with Ted” uses artificial intelligence (AI) technology to provide an online simulation of a typical communication experience between a care worker and someone living with dementia. Ted, the AI avatar, is living with dementia and conveys a range of emotions and verbal responses during the simulation, providing care workers the opportunity to work through a common challenging scenario, for example, providing persona
The Dementia Australia “Talk with Ted” avatar training. a. What it involves: “Talk with Ted” uses artificial intelligence (AI) technology to provide an online simulation of a typical communication experience between a care worker and someone living with dementia. Ted, the AI avatar, is living with dementia and conveys a range of emotions and verbal responses during the simulation, providing care workers the opportunity to work through a common challenging scenario, for example, providing personal care such as a shower. 'Talk with Ted' involves a one training session of 1-hour and is completed individually online via a computer. The training will be undertaken by healthcare workers who interact with people living with dementia, including nurses, personal care workers, clinical team leaders, support staff (allied health professionals and lifestyle personnel), and managers. Monitoring of adherence will be undertaken by researchers overseeing the completion of the training on-site at the included facilities. This will involve setting up the computers and maintaining a presence to address any technical issues that may arise. Additionally, operator usage data will be captured.
Sponsors
Aged Care Research & Industry Innovation Australia (ARIIA)
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Educational / counselling / training
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to 70 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Professional care staff employed at the participating aged care facilities/homes who have at least 6-months of experience interacting with people living with dementia will be eligible to participate. Professional care staff may include: • Personal care workers • Lifestyle workers • Health professionals such as nursing and allied health professionals
Exclusion criteria
To ensure participants can complete the research requirements, professional care staff with less than 6 months of experience interacting with people living with dementia, and those who have previous experience with the Dementia Australia Training Avatar (Talk with Ted) will be ineligible to participate in the study.
Outcome results
None listed