Viamigo for People With Dementia and Their Informal Caregivers

Rationale: People with dementia living in the community experience reduced out-of-home mobility and participate less in activities outside the home. This results in reduced social participation outside the home, which can negatively affect their health (e.g. leads to social isolation and increased risk of depressive symptoms). Technological interventions show promise in enhancing the social participation of people with dementia. However, there is a lack of technological interventions that facilitate social participation outside the home. While a growing body of evidence highlights the potential of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in facilitating the out-of-home mobility of people with dementia and reducing informal caregivers' feelings of worry, very little attention is paid to the potential of GIS in enhancing the social participation of people with dementia. The GIS-based mobile application Viamigo aims to support the independent out-of-home mobility of the user and to reduce informal caregiver's burden by teaching users a known individual route, which they can accomplish independently afterwards while being monitored by an informal caregiver. Although Viamigo was initially developed for persons with intellectual disabilities, it is expected that it can also support and improve out-of-home mobility and thereby the social participation of people with dementia.

Objective: The main objective of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of the Viamigo intervention among people with dementia living in the community and their informal caregivers. The secondary objective of this study is to assess the first responses of people with dementia and informal caregivers to the Viamigo intervention.

Study design: This feasibility study includes a mixed methods single-arm pre-post design with a baseline assessment, a 3-month intervention period, and a post-intervention assessment.

Study population: The study population consists of dyads (n=24) of people with mild to moderate dementia living in the community and their informal caregivers. There are no restrictions regarding sex, educational level, or cultural background.

Intervention (if applicable): All eligible and consenting dyads will be asked to participate in the Viamigo intervention, consisting of three main components: (1) a face-to-face technology training session of 60 minutes, (2) a 3-month period of using the Viamigo intervention with support phone calls of approximately 5 minutes by the coordinating investigator once every two weeks, and (3) an evaluation phone call of 5-10 minutes.

Main study parameters/endpoints: The main study parameter is the feasibility of the Viamigo intervention for people with dementia and their informal caregivers. Secondary study parameters for people with dementia include out-of-home mobility and social participation. Secondary study parameters for informal caregivers include quality of life, caregiver burden, and gains in dementia caregiving.

Nature and extent of the burden and risks associated with participation, benefit and group relatedness: People with dementia will be asked to fill in the same two questionnaires (approximately 20 minutes in total) during the baseline and post-intervention assessment. Additionally, they are asked to fill in a daily travel diary for one week at baseline and during the last week of the intervention period. Informal caregivers will be asked to fill in the same three questionnaires (approximately 25 minutes in total) during the baseline and post-intervention assessment, and another 15-minutes questionnaire during the post-intervention assessment. Additionally, a smaller sample of the dyads (10 dyads) will be asked to share their experiences using the Viamigo intervention in a semi-structured post-intervention interview of approximately 30 minutes. Dyads will be asked whether they prefer to conduct the different assessments at home or at another location (e.g. Maastricht University). By participating in the study, a participant with dementia might be more often exposed to potentially risky situations in his or her living environment (e.g. traffic). Participation in a technological intervention study can be time-consuming and demanding. One way to reduce the burden of the study is to give participants the freedom to use the Viamigo application at their own pace.