Nature Video to Improve Older Adult Health: A Feasibility Study.

Summary

Background: Exposure to nature has a positive impact on a multitude of health-related outcomes such as stress, attention, recovery after surgery, and overall well-being. There is growing interest in determining the impact of vicarious nature experiences delivered through multimedia platforms on the well-being of persons at high risk for poor psychosocial outcomes, as is the case in older adults diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or mild dementia.

Objectives/Purpose: The primary purpose of this study is to assess the feasibility of providing an immersive nature-based multimedia experience to older adults with MCI or mild dementia. A secondary purpose is to identify the potential health benefits of this intervention.

Methodology: A convenience sample of 40 older adults (65+ years old) with and without mild cognitive complaints will be recruited from a Los Angeles senior service partner. Participation will include three visits. The first visit will include the consent process, cognitive testing, and questionnaire completion. The second and third visits will consist of a video session followed immediately by a group discussion regarding the content in the videos. The two video sessions will be administered in a randomized and counterbalanced manner one week apart. One video involves a 15-minute immersive nature-based experience and the other includes a 15-minute clip that presents emotionally "neutral" educational content. Both sessions will be immediately followed by a group discussion of the content in the videos and how it relates to past experiences.

Outcomes and Analysis: Process evaluation data associated with recruitment, screening eligibility, involvement of personnel, assessment administration, and retention will be collected to determine overall study feasibility. Additionally, selected assessments will be administered at each multimedia experience during key time points to examine potential short-term health benefits.

Conditions

• Mild Dementia
• Mild Cognitive Impairment

Interventions

OTHER

Immersive Nature Video

An approximately 15-minute digital nature experience using work by filmmaker Louie Schwartzberg-Visual Healing by Moving Art. Time-lapse, high-speed, and macro cinematography are incorporated within each video. Audiovisual content include vivid imagery of a variety of ecosystems and climates accompanied by calming instrumental music. Both the MCI/Mild dementia arm and the healthy older adult arm will experience this intervention.

OTHER

Neutral Video

This video will include clips from relatively non-arousing educational documentaries. Fifteen minutes of documentary content will be selected from a longer video, ensuring that the content remains as neutral as possible. Video selections were modeled after the work from Eryilmaz, Van De Ville, Schwartz, and Vuilleumier (2011) who identified very brief movie clips (i.e., \<1 minute) that were rated as neutral as opposed to frightful or enjoyable. Both the MCI/Mild dementia arm and the healthy older adult arm will experience this intervention.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Front Porch Center for Innovation and Wellbeing

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• University of Southern California

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

CROSSOVER

Eligibility

Min Age

65 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2019-01-14

Primary Completion

2019-10-01

Completion

2022-02-03

Countries

• United States

Study Locations