Eating Behavior, Loneliness, Technology Use
Conditions
Keywords
eHealth, Embodied Conversational Agent, Technology use
Brief summary
Rationale: Embodied Conversational Agents (ECAs), could be a highly effective medium to address health behaviour change among older adults. As compliance to health advice is important for positive health outcomes, successful design of persuasive ECAs can have huge health benefits. However, insights in the mechanisms underlying usage and health behaviour change via ECAs are lacking. Objective: The objective is to unravel the mechanisms behind the use of an ECA intervention, and understand the mechanism behind the observed behaviour change Study design: A randomized staggered-entry waitlist-controlled trial will be carried out. Study population: The study population consist of Dutch-speaking older adults, who live independently, are without partner, are retired, 65+ and possess basic computer skills. Intervention: The application PACO has been created for (and with) older adults with the goal to motivate them to improve their eating behaviour and decrease their feelings of loneliness. Main study parameters/endpoints: The main study parameters are use, loneliness, and eating behaviour. Nature and extent of the burden and risks associated with participation, benefit and group relatedness: Subjects are not exposed to any risks, nor have they any costs. They do have to fill in questionnaires and use the application. The duration and data collection moments are needed to gain a fine-grained understanding of the use, relationship development and health change process. For subjects, the main benefit is to gain insight in their health behaviour via the PACO-application. Although this might be experienced as confronting by some. The technology was developed based on sound theories, with input from the target group, so the investigators expect positive experiences and an improvement in participants loneliness and eating behaviour. However, this can only be proven after the study.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALPACO
The intervention is a fully-automated web-based eHealth application in which two embodied conversational agents engage in dialogue with older adults in order to motivate them towards dietary behavior change and decrease loneliness. The application consists of five different modules, each one applying different behavior change techniques.
BEHAVIORALWaiting list + PACO
Waiting list + PACO
Sponsors
ZonMw: The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development
WAAG
Roessingh Research and Development
National Foundation for the Elderly
Wageningen University and Research
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
SEQUENTIAL
Primary purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)
Intervention model description
An unblinded randomized controlled trial. Participants in the first cohort directly receive the intervention for 8 weeks. Participants in the second cohort receive the intervention after a waiting list condition of 4 weeks, serving as a control group.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
65 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Living independently at home * Living without a partner * No paid profession and at least 65 years of age * Dutch speaking * Able to use a tablet or computer * Internet connection at home
Exclusion criteria
* Not willing to provide inform consent
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change in De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale | Four weeks before intervention to eight weeks | Score from 1-5, higher score means a better outcome. |
| Change in eating behaviour based on 24 hours recall | Four weeks before intervention to eight weeks | — |
| Logdata on use application | 8 weeks | Amount of time spend on the application during the 8 weeks intervention period |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Concern for privacy scale | Four and eight weeks after intervention | Concerns about sharing personal data, e.g.name and date of birth. Score from 1-7, higher score means a better outcome. |
| Active control scale | Eight weeks after intervention | Control over the system, as perceived by the user. Score from 1-7, higher score means a better outcome. |
| System Usability Scale | Eight weeks after intervention | Whether PACO is easy to use. Score from 1-5, higher score means a better outcome. |
| Rapport scale | Four weeks before intervention to eight weeks | Relationship with the embodied conversational agent. Score from 1-5, higher score means a better outcome. |
| Brief Older People's Quality of Life Scake | Four weeks before intervention to eight weeks | Score from 1-5, higher score means a better outcome. |
| Change in Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scales | Four weeks before intervention to eight weeks | Score from 1-5, higher score means a better outcome. |
| Perceived usefulness scale | Eight weeks after intervention | Score from 1-5, higher score means a better outcome. |
| Enjoyment via affect scale | Eight weeks after intervention | Pleasure in using the application. Score from 1-5, higher score means a better outcome. |
| Classic aesthetics Scale | Eight weeks after intervention | The design of the application. Score from 1-7, higher score means a better outcome. |
Other
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Willingness to pay single questions | Eight weeks after intervention | Willing to pay for PACO (y/n) |
| User experience via self-formulated open question | Four and eight weeks after intervention | — |
Countries
Netherlands
Outcome results
None listed