Use of Socially Assistive Robots for Long Term Care Older Adults With Cognitive Impairment and Apathy

May 6, 2026 updated by: Nilanjan Sarkar, Vanderbilt University

Impact of a Novel Socially Assistive Robotic Architecture on Engaging Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment, Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementia in Long Term Care Settings

The objective of this study is to demonstrate the impact of a socially assistive robot system on reducing apathy among cognitively impaired older adults residing in long term care facilities. Earlier phases of this project demonstrated the feasibility and acceptability of the robotic system. First, investigators will improve the social robotic interaction architecture through additional software development, enhance its versatility, and make it easy for non-experts to run. Second, 188 participants will be randomized to either usual activity programs at the long term care facility, or the usual activity programs plus the robotic activities. Researchers will examine the effect on apathy and also plan on examining underlying individual and facility factors that influence the impact of the robotic activities.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

142

Phase

  • Phase 2
  • Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Tennessee
      • Nashville, Tennessee, United States, 37212-2010
        • Vanderbilt University

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

65 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Residing >3 months in long term care facility
  • Evidence of mild cognitive impairment (SAGE score 15-16), mild dementia (SAGE score <15, AD8<2, DSRD<19), or moderate dementia (SAGE <15, AD8>1, DSRD 19-36)
  • Symptoms of apathy (Score 30+ on AES-C)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Severe cognitive impairment
  • Physically unable to participate
  • Unable to provide assent
  • Uncorrected vision or hearing
  • Never spoke English
  • Unable to sit comfortably in chair
  • Acutely ill, terminally ill or unresponsive
  • Unable to be moved to activity location
  • Aggressive or combative

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Socially Assistive Robot Activity
Participants will attend two sessions per week and interact with the robot. Four weeks with a humanoid robot and four weeks with a dog robot. Participants can continue to join other activities held within the facility.
Behavioral: Socially Assistive Robot Activity
Participants will attend two weekly sessions with robot activities. Each session will last 30 minutes. Participants will attend robot sessions for 8 weeks.
Active Comparator: Usual Activity Program
Participants will attend at least two sessions per week at activities held within the facility. They will not be exposed to the robot activities.
Behavioral: Socially Assistive Robot Activity
Participants will attend two weekly sessions with robot activities. Each session will last 30 minutes. Participants will attend robot sessions for 8 weeks.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Apathy
Time Frame: Baseline to Week 8
Apathy Evaluation Scale - Clinician (AES-C) will be used to assess changes in composite apathy score from baseline, Week 4, and Week 8. The AES-C is a validated 18-item instrument used to assess cognitive, behavioral, emotional and other symptoms of apathy. Clinicians rate each item based on verbal and nonverbal information provided by the participant. Item scores range from 1 (not at all characteristic) to 4 (a lot characteristic). Total scores range from 18 to 72 where higher derived scores indicate greater apathy.
Baseline to Week 8

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Trail Making Test (TMT)
Time Frame: Baseline to Week 8
The TMT is a well established test of executive function and has two forms. TMT-A consists of a series of numbers in circles displayed randomly on a page; the person links the numbers in sequence. TMT-B consists of numbers (1 to 13) and letters (A to L) inside circles randomly placed on a page; the person alternates in connecting ascending numbers with ascending letters. TMT is scored by time in seconds to complete, up to 5 minutes. TMT-A normal time is 29 seconds and deficient score is >78 seconds. TMT-B average score is 75 seconds and deficient score > 273 seconds.
Baseline to Week 8
Change in Animal Fluency Test
Time Frame: Baseline to Week 8
Verbal fluency tests require verbal ability and executive control processes; the Animal Naming test requires naming 15 animals in 1 minute; thus, less than 15 animals named in 1 minute is considered a deficient score.
Baseline to Week 8

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Vanderbilt University

Collaborators

National Institute on Aging (NIA)

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

February 7, 2023

Primary Completion (Actual)

October 31, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

January 31, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 15, 2021

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 4, 2022

First Posted (Actual)

January 5, 2022

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 8, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 6, 2026

Last Verified

May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 210386
  • R01AG062685 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

All IPD that are de-identified and have been used in publications.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

12 months after publications

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • SAP
  • ANALYTIC_CODE

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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