AzTrials
AzTrials

Social IsolationVGVNCT04593433

A 3-month Cycle of Virtual Guided Tours to Promote Health in Older Community Members in a Context of COVID-19 Induced Social Isolation: a Pilot Study

A study testing Museum virtual guided tours in people with Social Isolation and Quality of Life, run by Jewish General Hospital at 1 site in Canada.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
Search all trials

Trial summary

Social isolation is defined as the objective and/or subjective reduction of number and quality of interpersonal contacts leading to a loss of an individual's social role and stigmatization. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 65 years and olderHealthy volunteers can take part
Conditions the study is for
Social Isolation, Quality of Life, Well Aging
What is being tested?
Museum virtual guided tours
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
44 participants
Where
1 siteCanada
Study dates
4 Mar 2021to 4 Jul 2021
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 65 years and older
  • All sexes
  • Healthy volunteers accepted
  • Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Being 65 years and over
  • Having an Internet access and an electronic device (smartphone and/or tablet) at the participant's place of living as the repetitive assessments for this study will be performed on the web platform of the Centre of Excellence on Longevity of McGill University, and the guided tours will be virtual.
  • Understanding and writing the language of the recruitment centre (i.e., French or English)

Who cannot join

  • a concomitant participation to an experimental study,
  • planning to have a journey over one week during the cycle of visits,
  • having participated to a participatory art-based activity of the MMFA during the 6 month-period before the recruitment,
  • not speaking the language of the study.

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

Canada1 site
  • Jewish General Hospital

    Montreal, Quebec, H3T 1E2

Other trials in Canada

About this study

Official title: A 3-month Cycle of Virtual Weekly Montreal Museum of Fine Arts Tours to Promote Social Inclusion, Well-being, Quality of Life and Health in Older Community Members : a Pilot Study

Social isolation is defined as the objective and/or subjective reduction of number and quality of interpersonal contacts leading to a loss of an individual's social role and stigmatization. It is a major problem in Canadian society with a high prevalence in the older population (30% in individuals aged 65 and over, representing 1.5 million individuals). Social isolation is associated with a wide range of mental and physical health problems that leads to an increase in the use of health and social services. This issue increased with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic which attacking your society at its core. Social distancing and in particular home confinement exacerbated social isolation of frailer groups like the elderly people.

In 2016, the International Federation on Ageing reported that "the main new problem facing seniors in Canada is maintaining their social contacts and activities". This highlights the need for efficient and effective interventions to improve the social inclusion of older adults experiencing social isolation.

Read more

Research suggests that art-based activities carried out at museums have significant benefits for older adults experiencing social isolation, and may foster social inclusion, well-being, quality of life and mitigate frailty. Yet few studies have examined empirically the effects of museum art-based activities in older adults experiencing social isolation. In 2019, the principal investigator of this research conducted an experimental pilot study based on a pre-post intervention (i.e., 3-month cycle of weekly guided tours carried out at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA)), single arm, prospective and longitudinal follow-up named "Effects of Montreal Museum of Fine Arts visits and older community dwellers with a precarious state: An experimental study", which indicated the potential of museum tours to improve social inclusion, well-being, the quality of life and frailty in older community members experiencing social isolation.

However, these studies were performed before the COVID-19 crisis and were in-site activities. The principal investigator hypothesizes that a 3-month cycle of virtual weekly MMFA tours may induce changes in well-being, quality of life and health condition in older community dwellers participating like the 'Beautiful Thursday' cycle, and that this activity can prevent the worsening of vulnerability and social isolation due to social distancing.

Being tested
Museum virtual guided tours
Medical subject headings
Social Isolation, Frailty

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Museum virtual guided toursOther

    The intervention is a participatory art-based activity which consists in MMFA virtual guided tours. Each virtual guided tour is performed with a group of 5 participants. They meet online one time per week for a 20 to 25 min of a visit tour during a 3-month period. Each tour is different and supervised by a MMFA trained guide.

Study groups in NCT04593433
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
InterventionExperimentalGroup with the virtual museum guided tours
Receives: Other: Museum virtual guided tours

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Well-being

    using the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS) self-validated questionnaire composed by 14 positively worded item scale with five response categories. It covers most aspects of positive mental health (positive thoughts and feelings). Scores can range from a minimum of 14 to a maximum of 70 points. Higher scores are associated with higher levels of mental well-being

    Measured: 3 months

  2. Quality of life

    using EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D), a standardized measure of health status developed by the EuroQol Group to provide a simple, generic measure of health for clinical and economic appraisal. It is composed of two parts: a questionnaire of five questions with score per question ranged from 1 (i.e., no issue) to 5 (i.e., worse issue), each question ranged from 0 (i.e., no issue) to 25 (i.e., worse issue), and a visual analogic scale of how good or bad participant health was. This scale is numbered from 0 (i.e., worse health participant can imagine) to 100 (i.e., best health participant can imagine).

    Measured: 3 months

  3. frailty

    using CESAM questionnaire, composed of 20 items providing two complementary information: 1) A global score of frailty ranged from 0 (i.e., best health and functional condition) to 18 (i.e., worse health and functional condition) and 2) Categorized health condition in four levels (vigorous with a score between 0 and 3, mild frailty with a score between 4 and 7, moderate frailty with a score between 8 and 12, and important frailty with a score above 12).

    Measured: 3 months

  4. social isolation

    using the digital form of the 11-item Dike Social Support Index (DSSI). The index is composed of two subscales: social interaction (i.e., frequency of interactions) and subjective support (i.e., satisfaction with emotional support provided). DSSI score ranges from 11 to 33, increased score indicating higher levels of social insertion. The scores of the 11 items are combined and categorized as low-fair (score ≤26), high (score 27-29) and very high (score 30-33). We will use the mean score of 11-item DSSI and its distribution in three categories.

    Measured: 3 months

  5. socio-geriatric vulnerability

    using ESOGER questionnaire, composed of 17 items exploring the COVID risk, the COVID past history, the social isolation risk due to COVID (access to food, home support and healthcare, contact with external persons, anxiety). Items correspond to a question in closed-ended format (i.e., yes or no, or calling for a specific answer). The ESOGER categorizes state of vulnerability in three levels (Low, Moderate and High vulnerability).

    Measured: 3 months

Secondary outcomes (2)
  1. Incident planned and unplanned visits to physicians, Emergency Department (ED) and hospitalization

    recorded at the end of the cycle by asking directly to the participants

    Measured: 3 months

  2. compliance

    determined by the total number of guided tours performed, on a maximum of 12.

    Measured: 3 months

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted20 Oct 2020
  2. Study start4 Mar 2021
  3. Primary completion4 Jul 2021
  4. Study completion4 Jul 2021

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Other
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrolment
44 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT04593433
Sponsor's protocol ID
2021-2604
Acronym
VGV
Status last verified
Aug 2021
First submitted
13 Oct 2020
Last updated
27 Aug 2021
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Museum virtual guided tours in people with Social Isolation and Quality of Life, run by Jewish General Hospital at 1 site in Canada.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 3 inclusion and 4 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 27 Aug 2021. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in Canada. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Well-being (time frame: 3 months). The study lists 5 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 27 Aug 2021.

Free account

Log in to keep searching

You’ve used your 3 free searches. AzTrials is free: log in or create a free account to keep searching clinical trials and save the ones you want to follow.

Create a free accountLog in