WhatsApp Intervention for Seniors' Digital and Cognitive Management (WISDOM)

September 2, 2025 updated by: Seah Betsy, National University of Singapore

WhatsApp Intervention for Seniors' Digital and Cognitive Management (WISDOM): a Mixed-methods Pilot Study

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if a digital health literacy program using mobile phone chat-based application called WISDOM (WhatsApp Intervention for Seniors' Digital and cOgnitive Management) can help older adults in Singapore with fewer resources improve their digital health skills and support brain health.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

  • Is it feasible to run WISDOM in senior centres, and will participants join and stay in the program?
  • Does WISDOM help older adults find and use online health information?
  • Does WISDOM help older adults make health decisions and impact brain functions?
  • What do participants think about WISDOM, and how can it be improved?

Researchers will compare two groups:

  • WISDOM group: Participants will join a 6-week program with face-to-face learning sessions and WhatsApp activities about digital health skills. Extra support will be given if needed.
  • Control group: Participants will continue with their usual activities at the senior centres.

Participants in the WISDOM group will:

  • Join weekly face-to-face sessions for 6 weeks
  • Use WhatsApp to complete learning activities

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Promoting lifelong learning and digital usage are forms of cognitive stimulation that foster cognitive flexibility and connectivity with information and social networks. Functional imaging research has shown that older adults who were previously internet naïve demonstrated increased brain neural activity after learning to search online. Other studies reported that older adults who underwent in-person digital literacy programs involving internet searches, messaging, photography, and mobile application use showed improvements in overall cognition, episodic memory, and processing speed. Knowledge and skills gained through learning also promoted empowerment, psychosocial well-being, and improved quality of life.

In Singapore, formal and non-formal learning among older adults remains low, with only 13.2% participating, and those who do often have higher socioeconomic status. Socially disadvantaged older adults rarely take part, even though learning engagement has been found to improve subjective well-being more strongly in this group. Volunteer-led, one-to-one digital literacy programs for older adults with low socioeconomic status have shown promise but were resource-intensive. Thus, innovative, accessible, and affordable approaches are needed.

Chat-based applications offer a potential platform for informal learning among older adults, as they support multimedia attachments, real-time messaging, and videoconferencing. WhatsApp is a common chat-based application widely used by older adults in Singapore. Previous studies have reported positive health and behavioral outcomes of chat-based interventions in areas such as smoking cessation, diabetes, breastfeeding, and depression. However, evidence for digital health literacy interventions using mobile-based chat-based platform to promote digital health literacy skills among older adults.

This study will pilot WISDOM (WhatsApp Intervention for Seniors' Digital and cOgnitive Management) to assess feasibility and explore its potential benefits among socially disadvantaged older adults. A mixed methods design will be adopted. Four active ageing centres will be randomized into two WISDOM and two control groups. About 140 older adults with low socioeconomic status will be recruited.

The WISDOM program will last 6 weeks and include face-to-face sessions and WhatsApp-based learning. Weekly topics include, but not limited, to basics of operating search engines, websites, and mobile applications, searching online health information using Google and YouTube, evaluating the reliability of health information and applying online health information.

Participants in the WISDOM group may receive additional support where needed. A subset of participants will join qualitative interviews to share their experiences and provide feedback.

Data will be collected at three timepoints: baseline (pre-test), post-test 1 (week 7), and post-test 2 (3 months after completion) to monitor changes in digital health literacy and cognitive outcomes. Quantitative analyses will include repeated measures approaches, and qualitative data will be analyzed thematically.

This pilot study will provide insights into feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness of WISDOM as a potentially scalable, low-resource intervention to improve digital health literacy and cognition among socially disadvantaged older adults in the community.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

140

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

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

Study Contact

  • Name: Betsy Seah, PhD, BSc (Nursing)(Hons), RN
  • Phone Number: 6566013213
  • Email: nurseah@nus.edu.sg

Study Contact Backup

  • Name: XinMing Deng, BSc (Nursing)(Hons), RN
  • Phone Number: 6590505570
  • Email: e1069960@u.nus.edu

Study Locations

  • Singapore
    • Singapore
      • Singapore, Singapore, Singapore, 408935
        • NTUC Health Active Ageing Centre (West Cluster)
        • Contact:
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Betsy Seah, PhD, BSc (Nursing)(Hons), RN
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Celestine Wee, MSc, BSc (Nursing) (Hons), RN

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age 60 years and above
  • Own a smartphone
  • Received up to primary school education or lesser
  • Able to converse and read English or Mandarin

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Diagnosed with dementia or at risk of dementia (MoCA) ≤ 23/24

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: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: WISDOM Intervention
Participants in this arm will take part in the WISDOM program (WhatsApp Intervention for Seniors' Digital and cOgnitive Management). The program lasts 6 weeks and includes weekly face-to-face training sessions combined with WhatsApp-based learning activities focused on digital health literacy skills. Additional support may be offered to participants who require extra assistance.
Behavioral: Digital health literacy program
A 6-week digital health literacy program delivered through weekly face-to-face training sessions and WhatsApp activities. Additional support may be provided if needed.
No Intervention: Control (Usual Care)
Participants in this arm will continue with the usual activities provided at their active ageing centres. They will not receive the structured WISDOM program during the study period.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Digital health literacy competency
Time Frame: Baseline, week 7 (post-test 1), and 3 months after intervention (post-test 2).
Competency in digital health literacy will be measured using the 21-item Digital Health Literacy Instrument (DHLI). The DHLI includes seven domains: operational skills, navigation skills, information searching, evaluating reliability, determining relevance, adding self-generated content, and protecting privacy. Internal consistency for the tool is α=0.87. In addition to the self-reported items, seven performance-based items will also be included for objective evaluation.
Baseline, week 7 (post-test 1), and 3 months after intervention (post-test 2).

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Perceived usefulness of online health information
Time Frame: Baseline, week 7 (post-test 1), and 3 months after intervention (post-test 2).
Measured using a 4-item adapted subscale from the Technology Acceptance Model 3 tool (α=0.92).
Baseline, week 7 (post-test 1), and 3 months after intervention (post-test 2).
Perceived ease of using online health information
Time Frame: Baseline, week 7 (post-test 1), and 3 months after intervention (post-test 2).
Measured using a 4-item adapted subscale from the Technology Acceptance Model 3 tool (α=0.93).
Baseline, week 7 (post-test 1), and 3 months after intervention (post-test 2).
Attitudes towards online health information
Time Frame: Baseline, week 7 (post-test 1), and 3 months after intervention (post-test 2).
Measured using a 5-item subscale of the Health Impact Questionnaire (α=0.77).
Baseline, week 7 (post-test 1), and 3 months after intervention (post-test 2).
Use of online health information
Time Frame: Baseline, week 7 (post-test 1), and 3 months after intervention (post-test 2).
Measured using a 4-item validated scale (α=0.82).
Baseline, week 7 (post-test 1), and 3 months after intervention (post-test 2).
Changes in health behaviour and decision-making using internet-based health information
Time Frame: Baseline, week 7 (post-test 1), and 3 months after intervention (post-test 2).
Measured using a modified 9-item scale assessing health behaviour change related to online health information.
Baseline, week 7 (post-test 1), and 3 months after intervention (post-test 2).
Cognitive function
Time Frame: Baseline, week 7 (post-test 1), and 3 months after intervention (post-test 2).
Measured using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), a 30-point validated screening tool for global cognition.
Baseline, week 7 (post-test 1), and 3 months after intervention (post-test 2).
Cognitive domains (working memory, executive function, visuospatial coordination, psychomotor speed, attention)
Time Frame: Baseline, week 7 (post-test 1), and 3 months after intervention (post-test 2).
Measured using Thinc-it, a validated computerized battery of cognitive tests. Thinc-it is not used for screening or diagnostic purposes but to explore cognition in detail.
Baseline, week 7 (post-test 1), and 3 months after intervention (post-test 2).
Social support networks
Time Frame: Baseline, week 7 (post-test 1), and 3 months after intervention (post-test 2).
Measured using the 6-item Abbreviated Lubben Social Network Scale, which assesses family and friend support (α=0.83).
Baseline, week 7 (post-test 1), and 3 months after intervention (post-test 2).

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

National University of Singapore

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Betsy Seah, PhD, BSc (Nursing)(Hons), RN, National University of Singapore, Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies

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

Helpful Links

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 (Estimated)

September 15, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

June 30, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

February 28, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 2, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 2, 2025

First Posted (Estimated)

September 9, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

September 9, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 2, 2025

Last Verified

August 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • NUS-IRB-2024-1036

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Individual participant data (IPD) will not be shared because this is a small pilot feasibility study involving socially disadvantaged older adults in Singapore. Sharing of IPD is not planned due to privacy, ethical, and institutional data protection requirements under Singapore's Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA). Only aggregate results will be reported in publications and presentations.

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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