Remote Balance Training for Individuals With Dementia

Summary

Individuals with dementia (IwDs) fall more and are more seriously injured in falls than their age-matched, cognitively intact peers. An accessible and sustainable fall prevention program would be of great value. Using remote technology has become commonplace during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Marymount University's new Center for Optimal Aging plans to use this technology to bring a web-based version of a well-established and accepted evidence-based fall prevention intervention, the Otago Exercise Program, into the homes of IwDs and their care partners. Care partners will be trained in the home for safety and oversight of their exercising partner with dementia. Dyads of IwD and care partners will access the online exercise program through an online Learning Management System (Canvas) three times per week which tracks their access to exercise videos. Once per week, exercise will take place in a Zoom format with a small cohort of other dyads, supervised by a research team member, and the other two times will be independent access of exercise videos. The purpose of this study is to determine the viability of remote administration of the Otago Exercise Program by assessing program functionality, utility, and effectiveness. Feasibility will be evaluated by using components of the RE-AIM framework (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance). The results will guide and inform adaptations of future remote training efforts for IwD, with implications at the individual, family, and societal levels.

Conditions

• Dementia

Interventions

OTHER

Otago Exercise Program

The Otago Exercise Program (OEP) is a CDC endorsed evidence-based falls prevention program for older adults. It has not been well studied with individuals with dementia. It is comprised of a brief "warm up"/flexibility series, lower extremity strengthening, and balance exercises. The same menu of exercises is used for all participants, but exercises are progressed based upon individual performance. For the purposes of this study, three 25-minute video recorded versions of OEP will be rotated for use, all of which include brief flexibility activities, strengthening, and balance exercises. Strengthening exercises will be limited to body weight resistance for ease of instruction, safety, and consistency. Balance exercises involve changes in base of support in static and dynamic contexts, with challenge progressively increased by decreasing arm support during training (from 2-hands, to 1-hand, to no hands).

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Virginia Commonwealth University

  collaborator OTHER

• Marymount University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Patricia C Heyn, PhD · Marymount University Center for Optimal Aging

• Rita Wong, EdD · Marymount University

Study Design

Allocation

NA

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

NONE

Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age

60 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2022-10-15

Primary Completion

2024-06-15

Completion

2024-06-15

Countries

• United States

Study Locations