Center for Research and Education on Aging and Technology Enhancement - CREATE V - Project 2

Center for Research and Education on Aging and Technology Enhancement - CREATE V

The goal of this Stage 1 (NIH Stage Model) Intervention Development cross-site project is to develop, using a user-centered design approach, and evaluate an innovative intelligent adaptive software package aimed at providing cognitive and social support and engagement to older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The system will be designed to adapt to the needs and abilities of the user. The investigator's goal is to develop a unique and highly innovative technology tool that can provide adaptive support to aging individuals with MCI, even as cognition might deteriorate further. Speech data collected as part of an embedded reminiscence feature will advance fundamental knowledge of how speech and language production data might serve as an early indicator of cognitive decline.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Mild Cognitive Impairment
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Project 2, Phase 2: Intelligent Adaptive System

Detailed Description

Deployment of technology in healthcare and day-to- day activities is increasing and advances in technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) are increasingly aimed at supporting older adults. Yet, aging adults are often ignored in design, and robust research evaluating the usability, safety, and efficacy of these systems with older adults is limited. Even among older technology adopters, rapid changes in technology pose challenges in terms of the constant need for adaptation and continual learning. Further, there remains a lag in uptake among many older adult sub-groups, including ethnic minorities, older cohorts, those of lower socio-economic status, those living in a rural location, or with a cognitive impairment such as Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) or Alzheimer's Disease/Alzheimer's Disease Related Dementias (AD/ADRD). The goal of CREATE V is to harness the potential benefits and power of technology to maintain, support, and foster the cognitive, emotional, and physical health of aging adults to enhance independence, well-being, and quality of life. Given that age represents a significant risk factor for cognitive impairments such as MCI and AD/ADRD, and the criticality of cognition to everyday functioning, a thrust of the research investigators planned research is on using emerging technologies to help maintain cognitive health and provide support for those with cognitive impairments. CREATE V has a fresh vision, a focus on emerging technologies, expanded research teams, new populations such as those with cognitive impairments, and technological capabilities.

Project 2: Phase 1 of the project will yield important information on the feasibility of using technology-based approaches to support everyday activities and cognition for persons with MCI and insight on barriers to the implementation of technology-based interventions. The investigators will also gain understanding of the challenges aging adults with MCI encounter in everyday activities.

In phase 2, akin to Stage 1b, the study will involve pilot testing to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and usability of the system (primary outcomes) with a diverse sample of individuals with MCI at each site. Investigators will gather preliminary data on efficacy of the system with respect to secondary outcomes such as cognition, perceptions of memory functioning, social connectivity, social support, loneliness, technology proficiency, and the performance of everyday tasks. Investigators will collect real time data on system use and system adaptations. Investigators will examine potential negative consequences of use of the system, such as decreases in social networks or interactions or negative changes in life space. All assessments will occur in the participants' living environment by trained research assistants. An assessor other than the one who conducted the baseline assessment, will conduct follow-up assessments to minimize bias (i.e., assessors will be blinded to treatment condition).

Project 2 record was originally listed under NCT05811338.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 290
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Chelsie Burchett, PhD; Phone Number: 646-962-7141; Email: cob2014@med.cornell.edu
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Sophie Park; Phone Number: 646-962-7141; Email: sep4008@med.cornell.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • Florida
    • Tallahassee, Florida, United States, 32306
      • Florida State University
  • Illinois
    • Champaign, Illinois, United States, 61820
      • University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
      • Contact: Wendy Rogers, PhD; Phone Number: 217-300-1470; Email: wendyr@illinois.edu
      • Principal Investigator: Wendy Rogers, PhD
  • New York
    • New York, New York, United States, 10065
      • Weill Cornell Medicine
      • Contact: Chelsie Burchett, MA; Phone Number: 646-962-7141; Email: cob2014@med.cornell.edu
      • Principal Investigator: Sara Czaja, PhD

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• 62+ years of age
• Able to read English at the 6th grade level
• Have 20/60 vision with or without correction.
• Clinical diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI)
• Subjective cognitive complaints
• Evidence by clinical evaluation
• Clinical Dementia Rating Global scale of 0.5-2.0
• Probable MCI
• Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score of 18-26
• No major Instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) impairments
• Geriatric Depression Scale of 4 or Below
• No diagnosis of dementia

Exclusion Criteria:

• Blind or have visual impairments that limit their ability to view the technology.
• Deaf or have hearing impairments that limit their ability to answer telephone queries.
• Have a life-limiting/terminal illness
• Severe motor impairment (e.g., severe tremors or debilitating arthritis in their hands) that impairs ability to speak or use dominant hand
• Cognitive impairment (MOCA ≤ 25)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Project 2 - Phase 2: Active Intervention Group; Participants will receive a tablet with the adaptive program and be provided with internet service following the baseline assessment. Participants will receive a 3-day training in their home that will include basic tablet/internet training and training on the features of the system. The training will also encompass a module on internet etiquette and security against potential spam and fraud. Participants will be provided with practice tasks in between sessions. Participants will be provided with a "hands-on" performance assessment at the end of the second session and concepts/procedures that are problematic will be reviewed.	Behavioral: Project 2, Phase 2: Intelligent Adaptive System; An innovative intelligent adaptive software package aimed at providing social and cognitive support to older adults with MCI. The system will be designed to adapt to the needs and abilities of the user.
Active Comparator: Project 2 - Phase 2: Waitlist Control; Participants will receive a 3-day training in their home. Participants will also receive a tablet, internet support for 12 months and training. This will include instructions for accessing content pertaining to the research study.	Behavioral: Project 2, Phase 2: Intelligent Adaptive System; An innovative intelligent adaptive software package aimed at providing social and cognitive support to older adults with MCI. The system will be designed to adapt to the needs and abilities of the user.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Project 2, Phase 2: Perceived System Usability of the CAST Program as Measured by the number of times used per day	The CAST system or tablet usability will be assessed by evaluating participants' perception of the features of the system. Real time measures of the CAST system or tablet use will be evaluated, by the number of days used using the sum of times the system was used per day or the average, starting from baseline through six months. Measure is to be developed based on phase 1 of the study.	Baseline through 6 months
Project 2, Phase 2: Perceived System Usability of the CAST Program as measured by the number of times the system was used per day	The CAST system or tablet usability will be assessed by evaluating participants' perception of the features of the system. Real time measures of the CAST system or tablet use will be evaluated, using the sum of times the system was used per day or the average starting from baseline through six months. Measure is to be developed based on phase 1 of the study.	Baseline through 6 months
Project 2, Phase 2: Perceived System Usability of the CAST Program as measured by the number of features used per day	The CAST system or tablet usability will be assessed by evaluating participants' perception of the features of the system. Real time measures of the CAST system or tablet use will be evaluated, by number of features used per day, using the sum of numbers of features used per day or the average starting from baseline through six months. Measure is to be developed based on phase 1 of the study.	Baseline through 6 months
Project 2, Phase 2: Perceived Ease of Use of the CAST Program, assessed using the Perceived Ease of Use Questionnaire	Utilizing a 12-item scale (Perceived Ease of Use Questionnaire) which includes two subscales (perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use) with Likert response scales ranging from. 1 (Strongly disagree) - 10 (Strongly agree). The responses to the items are summed for each of the subscales. To assess ease of use, the investigators will evaluate responses to the perceived ease of use subscale.	6 months post intervention
Project 2, Phase 2: Perceived System Usefulness of the CAST Program, assessed using the Perceived Usefulness Questionnaire	Will assess participants' perception of technology-based intervention usefulness. Utilizing a 12-item scale (Perceived Usefulness Questionnaire) which includes two subscales (perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use) with Likert response scales ranging from. 0 (Strongly disagree) - 4 (Strongly agree). Higher sores indicate perceived ease of use of the CAST program. The responses to the items are summed for each of the subscales.	6-months post intervention
Project 2, Phase 2: Mean scores of participants' perception of CAST program usability and usefulness, assessed using the Usability Metric for user Experience (UMUX-Lite) questionnaire	Will assess participants' perception of technology-based intervention ease of use and usefulness. The Usability Metric for User Experience (UMUX-Lite) is a two-item Likert scale used for the subjective assessment of an application's perceived usability. On a 7- point scale, with 0 being strongly disagree and 6 being strongly agree, higher scores are reflective of a greater satisfaction with the system. The scoring range is from 0 to 14. A higher accumulated score is representative of a higher perception of usability.	6-months post intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Project 2, Phase 2: Mean Difference in Score of Social Support and Connectivity Assessed using The Social Connectedness Measure	Scales used to measure two aspects of social isolation: social disconnectedness and perceived isolation, as well as perceived availability of social support. The Social Connectedness measure is a 15-item scale consisting of 3 sections with different likert response scale. Section 1 is a 4-item scale ranging from 0 - 5 points (20 total points). Section 2 is a 6-item scale ranging from 1 - 3 points (18 total points). Section 3 is a 5-item scale ranging from 1 - 5 points (25 total points). For Section 1, a higher score is reflective of increased connectedness while for Section 2 and 3, a higher score is a reflective of a higher level of disconnectedness. For sections 1-3, a mean difference in score will be calculated.	Baseline and 6 month post intervention
Project 2, Phase 2: Mean Difference in Score of Quality of Life, assessed using The Quality of Life Questionnaire	Will assess the participant's quality of life by having the participant rate different aspects of their life using one of four words: poor, fair, good, or excellent. They are instructed to think about different aspects of their life, like physical health, energy, family, money, and others to assess their situation in each area. The Quality of Life questionnaire is a 13-item scale with Likert response scales ranging between 1 and 4 points. The measure's total score can range between 13 - 52 points. A higher total score is reflective of a higher quality of life while a lower score is reflective of a poorer quality of life.	Baseline and 6 month post intervention
Project 2, Phase 2: Mean Difference in Score of reported depression, assessed using the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D) Scale	The CES-D is a self-report depression scale for research in general population. It is a 20 item questionnaire consisting of likert response scales ranging from 0-3 points. The total score range is 0 - 60 points. Higher scores indicate participants have a greater level of self reported depression.	Baseline and 6 month post intervention
Project 2, Phase 2: Mean Difference in score of participants self-reported health, assessed using the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey questionnaire (SF-36 Short Form)	The SF-36 has eight scaled scores; the scores are weighted sums of the questions in each section. Scores range from 0 - 100 Lower scores = more disability, higher scores = less disability. The 8 subscales or domains are as follows: Physical functioning (10 items); Role limitations due to physical health (4 items); Role limitations due to emotional problems (4 items); Energy/fatigue (4 items); Emotional well-being (5 items); Social functioning (2 items); Pain (2 items); General health (5 items).	Baseline and 6 month post intervention
Project 2, Phase 2: Mean Difference in scores of participants' perceived memory function, assessed using the Perception of Memory Function questionnaire	The Perception of Memory Function Questionnaire is a self-report questionnaire for clinicians and researchers to use for assessing metamemory in middle-aged and older adults. It consists of 64 items to be rated on a 7-point Likert scale; the items load on four factors, each of which associated with a specific aspect of memory. The 7-point scale ranges from major problems (1) to no problems (7). Participants on the lower end of the scoring range indicate experiencing more memory problems.	Baseline and 6 month post intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Weill Medical College of Cornell University
• Collaborators: National Institute on Aging (NIA)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Sara J Czaja, PhD, Weill Medical College of Cornell University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): August 31, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): May 31, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): May 31, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 16, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 16, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): March 20, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 15, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 12, 2026
• Last Verified: May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Technology
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Neurocognitive Disorders; Cognition Disorders; Cognitive Dysfunction
• Other Study ID Numbers: 23-01025559-02; P01AG073090-01A1 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: The investigators plan for resource sharing is based on the National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Aging (NIH/NIA) Data Sharing Policy. The investigators plan, consistent with the NIH goals of data sharing, is to promote use of the rich CREATE database by the larger research community as this will further the impact of CREATE and expand possibilities for collaboration. It will also allow other researchers to expedite the translation of the research findings into knowledge, products, and procedures. Further, the plan is devised to make the data as widely and freely available as possible while at the same time safeguarding the privacy of participants and protecting confidential and proprietary data.
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: The data from research projects will be made available no later than acceptance of publication of the main findings from the final data set. There is no end date to access the data from the research projects.
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: The investigators agree to share the data with researchers working under an institution with Federal Wide Assurance who agree to a data sharing agreement that stipulates protection of participant privacy and data confidentiality, acknowledgement of CREATE, that the data will be used for research purposes only, and that the data will not be transferred to other users. The computerized data will include raw data, derived variables, all necessary documentation as described in the National Archive of Computerized Data on Aging depositor agreement. All data will be de-identified. The investigators will follow the guides published by the US Department of Health and Human Services in this respect. Each data set will include data documentation to ensure that others can use the data set and to minimize confusion. Information about where and how to locate and access the data will be available in any publications and presentations authored by CREATE investigators.
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL; SAP; ICF; ANALYTIC_CODE; CSR

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No