CREATE: Center for Research and Education on Aging and Technology Enhancement

Abstract

Deployment of technology in healthcare and day‐to‐ day activities is increasing andadvances in technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) are increasingly aimed atsupporting older adults. Yet, aging adults are often ignored in design, and robustresearch evaluating the usability, safety, and efficacy of these systems with olderadults is limited. Even among older technology adopters, rapid changes in technology posechallenges in terms of the constant need for adaptation and continual learning. Further,there remains a lag in uptake among many older adult sub‐groups, including ethnicminorities, older cohorts, those of lower socio‐economic status, those living in a rurallocation, or with a cognitive impairment such as Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) orAlzheimer's Disease/Alzheimer's Disease Related Dementias (AD/ADRD). The goal of CREATE Vis to harness the potential benefits and power of technology to maintain, support, andfoster the cognitive, emotional, and physical health of aging adults to enhanceindependence, well‐being, and quality of life. Given that age represents a significantrisk factor for cognitive impairments such as MCI and AD/ADRD, and the criticality ofcognition to everyday functioning, a thrust of the research investigators plannedresearch is on using emerging technologies to help maintain cognitive health and providesupport for those with cognitive impairments. CREATE V has a fresh vision, a focus onemerging technologies, expanded research teams, new populations such as those withcognitive impairments, and technological capabilities.Project 1: Phase 1, akin to NIH Stage 1a, will involve usability testing across the threeCREATE sites with older adults, and heuristic analysis to gather information on userpreferences, usability problems, implementation, and training protocols.Phase 2, akin to NIH Stage 1b, will involve a cross‐site pilot randomized trial with alarge and diverse sample of aging adults. Participants will be randomized, following abaseline assessment, to the VR CAST condition or a tablet control condition, whereparticipants will be exposed to similar context in 2d (e.g., online museum tours).Following training on the VR program/tablet, they will use the VR program/tablet in theirhome for two months. The battery of measures will be re‐administered at 1 and 2‐monthspost randomization. Research investigators will collect real time data on use of the VRprogram/tablet. The planned project will yield significant and timely information on thefeasibility of using VR support for older adults, delineate potential mediator andmoderators of the benefits of VR, and design guidelines for VR interventions for olderadults.Projects 2 and 3 under this grant were originally registered as part of thisClinicalTrials.gov record (NCT05811338), but have since been separated into their ownrespective ClinicalTrials.gov records.