MindMate: A Study of a Reminder System for People With Dementia

MindMate: A Single Case Experimental Design Study of a Reminder System for People With Mild Dementia

A study to investigate the effectiveness of a reminder tool application at increasing performance on memory tasks in people with mild dementia

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Dementia
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: MindMate

Detailed Description

Background

Memory difficulties are a core feature of dementia. These include difficulties remembering to do something at a specific time and place in the future (Prospective Memory). Although a range of electronic prospective memory aids currently exist (e.g. "Neuropage"), the evidence supporting their use among the dementia population remains limited. "Mindmate" is a recently developed mobile application that aims to support individuals with a diagnosis of dementia, improving self-management skills and quality of life.

Aims

This study will explore the effectiveness of "MindMate" reminder alerts delivered to a smart phone or tablet computer as a memory aid for people with a diagnosis of Mild Dementia.

Method

Three participants with a diagnosis of dementia, who are considered to be in the early stages and who report everyday prospective memory difficulties, will be recruited from Older People Community Mental Health teams within Greater Glasgow and Clyde. The participants will own a smart phone or tablet and will be living with a partner or family member who will also participate in the study. During the initial baseline phase, the partner or family member will monitor the number of pre defined tasks the participant remembered and forgot. The partner or family member will record this information on a weekly monitoring form and this phase will last between five to seven weeks. This will be followed by a five-week intervention phase where "MindMate" reminder alerts will be sent to the participant's phone or tablet. Again, tasks that require remembering will be identified prior to the intervention phase, and family members or carers will monitor their success on a form. Results will be analysed using visual inspection and Tau-U analysis.

Applications

This study will provide information on the effectiveness of a form of assistive technology at supporting people with a dementia, which could improve quality of life of those with a diagnosis.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 3
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United Kingdom
  • Glasgow, United Kingdom
    • NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• has a diagnosis of Mild Dementia, according to International Classification of Diseases (ICD) 10 Criteria
• has received the diagnosis from a psychiatrist
• owns a smart phone or tablet
• has a family member/partner/carer who is willing to monitor memory aid use
• has capacity to consent to being involved in the research
• is reporting memory difficulties that are affecting them in daily life

Exclusion Criteria:

• visual or auditory difficulties which cannot be corrected through the use of appropriate aids
• has a pre-existing neurological or severe psychiatric problem (e.g. bipolar disorder, psychosis)
• has a diagnosis of dementia that is considered to be in the moderate to severe stages
• those whose first language is not English
• those with a diagnosed or suspected developmental learning disability
• those who are currently using online or electronic memory aids

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Interventional Model: PARALLEL
• Masking: NONE

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: 5 week baseline; 5 week baseline data collection followed by 6 week MindMate intervention	Other: MindMate; A dementia-specific mobile reminding application
EXPERIMENTAL: 6 week baseline; 6 week baseline data collection followed by 6 week MindMate intervention	Other: MindMate; A dementia-specific mobile reminding application
EXPERIMENTAL: 7 week baseline; 7 week baseline data collection followed by 6 week MindMate intervention	Other: MindMate; A dementia-specific mobile reminding application

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Memory	Number of target events the participant remembered to complete	6 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Acceptability	Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) questionnaire	Change from baseline to 6 week post-intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
• Collaborators: University of Glasgow
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Jonathan Evans, BSc DClinPsy PhD, University of Glasgow

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (ACTUAL): January 17, 2017
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): July 31, 2018
• Study Completion (ACTUAL): July 31, 2018

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 19, 2016
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 20, 2016
• First Posted (ESTIMATE): September 21, 2016

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ACTUAL): November 6, 2018
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 2, 2018
• Last Verified: November 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Neurocognitive Disorders; Dementia
• Other Study ID Numbers: GN16NE538

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO