Telemonitoring of Activities of Daily Living in Home Care Services of Older Adults with Cognitive Deficits

Telemonitoring of Activities of Daily Living in Home Care Services of Older Adults with Cognitive Deficits: a Large-scale Action Design Research Study

In Canada, it is estimated that two million people are users of publicly funded home care services, with more than half of them being 65 years and older. Although home care services are considered a priority by Canadian provinces, in Québec alone, more than 46 000 people were waiting for those services in 2022. The provision of home care services is hampered by limited funding and growing demand from among an aging population, among other factors. These challenges have led to urgent calls to better support home care in Canada to ensure optimal use of scarce human and financial resources. One of the key strategies to achieve optimal use of resources may be remote monitoring of activities of daily living (ADLs), a type of telehealth. ADL telemonitoring can remotely recognize ADLs such as preparing meals and moving around the home. Past studies have shown that ADL telemonitoring can help in better understanding older adults' home care needs, thereby allowing for more personalized ADL interventions. Previous projects have also allowed for the developement of NEARS-SAPA, a telemonitoring system for ADLs. In these past projects, it was identified how NEARS-SAPA was used by home care services and its ease of use was tested in real environments. In the present project, the benefits of ADL telemonitoring will be tested and its technological capabilities expanded, hence preparing the system for the next big step, i.e. large-scale adoption by home care services. Ultimately, ADL telemonitoring may help the healthcare system determine which service is more appropriate for which person and at what time, thereby optimizing interventions and resource management.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Dementia
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Telemonitoring of ADL

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 200
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Maxime Lussier, Ph.D.; Phone Number: 514-340-3540; Email: maxime.lussier.ccsmtl@ssss.gouv.qc.ca

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1) be an older adult (> 65 years old), 2) have cognitive deficits as reported in the medical record, 3) live alone, at home, 4) be a care recipient of home care services, 5) speak French or English

Exclusion Criteria:

• None

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Telemonitoring of ADL group; Will receive the technology in their home to document if it influenced the homecare services plan.	Other: Telemonitoring of ADL; Telemonitoring of ADL is based on smart environments sensors (non wearables) and gathers information about activity of daily living routines for a better understanding of homecare services needed.
No Intervention: No telemonitoring of ADL; Another group will be followed in therms of homecare services received, but without the technology. The control group will be gathered based on archives data only.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number of homecare services received to support activities of daily living (ADL)	Number of homecares ADL services received as identified in clinical databases.	From enrollment until around 12 months of following.
Nature of homecare services received to support activities of daily living (ADL).	The category of services received related to ADL as indicated in clinical databases.	From enrollement until around 12 months of following.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Centre de Recherche de l'Institut Universitaire de Geriatrie de Montreal
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Nathalie Bier, Ph.D., CRIUGM, Université de Montréal; Principal Investigator: Charles Gouin-Vallerand, Ph.D., Université de Sherbrooke; Principal Investigator: Kevin Bouchard, Ph.D., Université du Québec à Chicoutimi

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): April 1, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): April 1, 2028
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2028

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 28, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 14, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): March 25, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 25, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 14, 2025
• Last Verified: February 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: IA; Telemonitoring of ADL; Homecare services
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Neurocognitive Disorders; Cognitive Dysfunction; Cognition Disorders
• Other Study ID Numbers: PJT-195697

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No