Smart Facial Exercise Coaching System for Older Adults

July 8, 2026 updated by: National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University

Development and Testing of a Smart Facial Coaching System for Older Adults

Participants will be invited to take part in a facial exercise program and will be assessed before the intervention, immediately after the intervention, and one month after the intervention.

Older adults aged 60 years and above who are able to communicate in Mandarin or Taiwanese and who participate in activities at adult day-care centers or community care centers will be eligible for inclusion. Individuals with severe visual or hearing impairment, moderate to severe dementia, inability to communicate verbally, obvious facial wounds or lesions, or medical conditions affecting swallowing function (e.g., stroke) will be excluded from participation.

A total of approximately 130 participants will be recruited and assigned to one of two groups:

Intervention Group (n ≈ 65): Participants will perform facial exercises using the Smart Facial Coaching System.

Control Group (n ≈ 65): Participants will perform facial exercises by following a video-based facial exercise program.

After providing informed consent and meeting the eligibility criteria, participants will complete baseline structured questionnaires and the Repetitive Saliva Swallowing Test (RSST).

Participants in both groups will then perform facial exercises for five consecutive days, with each session lasting approximately 10-15 minutes.

Upon completion of the 5-day facial exercise program, participants will complete the structured questionnaires and perform the Repetitive Saliva Swallowing Test (RSST).

One month after the intervention, participants will complete a follow-up questionnaire, which will take approximately 15-20 minutes.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Program description is as follows:

Intervention Group (n ≈ 65): Participants will perform facial exercises using the Smart Facial Coaching System. The program consists of four components, and each session will last approximately 10-15 minutes.

  • Eye Exercises: Gentle eye closure, forceful eye closure, eye opening, and lateral eye stretching exercises to promote eye muscle activity (approximately 2-3 minutes).
  • Mouth Opening Exercises: Maximum mouth opening and repetitive mouth-opening exercises to promote perioral muscle activity (approximately 3-4 minutes).
  • Oral Function Exercises: Articulation exercises, cheek exercises, tongue exercises, salivary gland massage, and swallowing exercises to promote oral function (approximately 3-5 minutes).
  • Smiling Exercises: Viewing happy facial expression images, facial relaxation exercises, and smile imitation exercises to promote facial muscle activity (approximately 1-2 minutes).

Control Group (n ≈ 65): Participants will perform facial exercises by following an oral health exercise video available on YouTube. The exercise program includes facial muscle exercises, tongue exercises, salivary gland massage, swallowing exercises, and articulation exercises.

YouTube video: https://youtu.be/_Q4DwWXJ4S4?si=Ld10bgiklFLwTHPc

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

130

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

Study Locations

  • Taiwan
    • Taipei City
      • Taipei, Taipei City, Taiwan, 112304
        • National Yang Ming Chiao Tung 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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Willing to participate in this study voluntarily.
  • Able to provide written informed consent.
  • Aged 60 years or older.
  • Able to communicate in Mandarin Chinese or Taiwanese.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Severe visual or hearing impairment.
  • Diagnosis of moderate to severe dementia.
  • Inability to communicate verbally.
  • Presence of obvious structural or pathological lesions of the face.
  • Diseases or conditions affecting swallowing function (e.g., stroke).

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: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Smart Facial Coaching System
Participants perform facial exercises using the Smart Facial Coaching System for approximately 10-15 minutes per day for 5 consecutive days.
Behavioral: Smart Facial Coaching System
Participants perform facial exercises using the Smart Facial Coaching System for approximately 10-15 minutes per day for 5 consecutive days.
Active Comparator: Video-Based Facial Exercise
Participants perform facial exercises by following a video-based facial exercise program for approximately 10-15 minutes per day for 5 consecutive days.
Behavioral: Video-Based Facial Exercise
Participants perform facial exercises by following a video-based facial exercise program for approximately 10-15 minutes per day for 5 consecutive days.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Facial Exercise Behavior and Related Psychosocial Outcomes
Time Frame: Baseline, immediately post-intervention, and 1 month after the intervention
Assessed using structured questionnaires measuring facial exercise behavior and related psychosocial outcomes, including eye discomfort, oral function, attitudes toward facial exercise, decisional balance, self-efficacy, and well-being.
Baseline, immediately post-intervention, and 1 month after the intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Repetitive Saliva Swallowing Test (RSST)
Time Frame: Baseline and immediately post-intervention
Assessed using the Repetitive Saliva Swallowing Test (RSST), recording the number of saliva swallows completed within 30 seconds.
Baseline and immediately post-intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Chiu-Mieh Huang, PhD, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University

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)

July 15, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

May 21, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

May 21, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 8, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 8, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

July 14, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 14, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 8, 2026

Last Verified

July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • NYCU115098AE

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Individual participant data will not be shared because there is no data-sharing plan for this study.

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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