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Alzheimer's Association Project VITAL: A Florida Statewide Initiative Using Technology to Impact Social Isolation and Well-Being

Lack of social engagement and the resulting social isolation can have negative impacts on health and well-being, especially in senior care communities and for those living with dementia. Project VITAL leverages technology and community resources to create a network for connection, engagement, educat...

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Autores principales: Prophater, Lorna E., Fazio, Sam, Nguyen, Lydia T., Hueluer, Gizem, Peterson, Lindsay J., Sherwin, Kasia, Shatzer, Julie, Branham, Michelle, Kavalec, Amy, O'Hern, Karen, Stoglin, Kristi, Tate, Rio, Hyer, Kathryn
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8674735/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34926365
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.720180
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author Prophater, Lorna E.
Fazio, Sam
Nguyen, Lydia T.
Hueluer, Gizem
Peterson, Lindsay J.
Sherwin, Kasia
Shatzer, Julie
Branham, Michelle
Kavalec, Amy
O'Hern, Karen
Stoglin, Kristi
Tate, Rio
Hyer, Kathryn
author_facet Prophater, Lorna E.
Fazio, Sam
Nguyen, Lydia T.
Hueluer, Gizem
Peterson, Lindsay J.
Sherwin, Kasia
Shatzer, Julie
Branham, Michelle
Kavalec, Amy
O'Hern, Karen
Stoglin, Kristi
Tate, Rio
Hyer, Kathryn
author_sort Prophater, Lorna E.
collection PubMed
description Lack of social engagement and the resulting social isolation can have negative impacts on health and well-being, especially in senior care communities and for those living with dementia. Project VITAL leverages technology and community resources to create a network for connection, engagement, education, and support of individuals with dementia and their caregivers, and explores the impact of these interventions in reducing feelings of social isolation and increasing mood among residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through two phases, 600 personalized Wi-Fi-enabled iN2L tablets were distributed to 300 senior care communities (55% assisted living communities, 37% skilled nursing communities, 6% memory care communities, and 2% adult family-care homes) to connect and engage residents and their families. Different phases also included Project ECHO, a video-based learning platform, Alzheimer's Association virtual and online education and support for family caregivers, evidence-based online professional dementia care staff training and certification, and Virtual Forums designed to explore ways to build sustainable, scalable models to ensure access to support and decrease social isolation in the future. Tablet usage was collected over an 11-month period and an interim survey was designed to assess the effectiveness of the tablets, in preventing social isolation and increasing mood among residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 105 care community staff (whose community used the tablets) completed the survey and overall, these staff showed a high level of agreement to statements indicating that residents struggled with loneliness and mood, and that the tablet was useful in improving loneliness and mood in residents and allowing them to stay in touch with family and friends. Additional positive results were seen through a variety of other responses around the tablets and Project ECHO. Overall, the tablets were shown to be an effective way to engage residents and connect them with friends and family, as well as being a useful tool for staff members. A third phase is currently underway in the homes of people with dementia and their family caregivers, which includes tablets and direct access to Alzheimer's Association virtual and online education and support programs.
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spelling pubmed-86747352021-12-17 Alzheimer's Association Project VITAL: A Florida Statewide Initiative Using Technology to Impact Social Isolation and Well-Being Prophater, Lorna E. Fazio, Sam Nguyen, Lydia T. Hueluer, Gizem Peterson, Lindsay J. Sherwin, Kasia Shatzer, Julie Branham, Michelle Kavalec, Amy O'Hern, Karen Stoglin, Kristi Tate, Rio Hyer, Kathryn Front Public Health Public Health Lack of social engagement and the resulting social isolation can have negative impacts on health and well-being, especially in senior care communities and for those living with dementia. Project VITAL leverages technology and community resources to create a network for connection, engagement, education, and support of individuals with dementia and their caregivers, and explores the impact of these interventions in reducing feelings of social isolation and increasing mood among residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through two phases, 600 personalized Wi-Fi-enabled iN2L tablets were distributed to 300 senior care communities (55% assisted living communities, 37% skilled nursing communities, 6% memory care communities, and 2% adult family-care homes) to connect and engage residents and their families. Different phases also included Project ECHO, a video-based learning platform, Alzheimer's Association virtual and online education and support for family caregivers, evidence-based online professional dementia care staff training and certification, and Virtual Forums designed to explore ways to build sustainable, scalable models to ensure access to support and decrease social isolation in the future. Tablet usage was collected over an 11-month period and an interim survey was designed to assess the effectiveness of the tablets, in preventing social isolation and increasing mood among residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 105 care community staff (whose community used the tablets) completed the survey and overall, these staff showed a high level of agreement to statements indicating that residents struggled with loneliness and mood, and that the tablet was useful in improving loneliness and mood in residents and allowing them to stay in touch with family and friends. Additional positive results were seen through a variety of other responses around the tablets and Project ECHO. Overall, the tablets were shown to be an effective way to engage residents and connect them with friends and family, as well as being a useful tool for staff members. A third phase is currently underway in the homes of people with dementia and their family caregivers, which includes tablets and direct access to Alzheimer's Association virtual and online education and support programs. Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-12-02 /pmc/articles/PMC8674735/ /pubmed/34926365 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.720180 Text en Copyright © 2021 Prophater, Fazio, Nguyen, Hueluer, Peterson, Sherwin, Shatzer, Branham, Kavalec, O'Hern, Stoglin, Tate and Hyer. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Public Health
Prophater, Lorna E.
Fazio, Sam
Nguyen, Lydia T.
Hueluer, Gizem
Peterson, Lindsay J.
Sherwin, Kasia
Shatzer, Julie
Branham, Michelle
Kavalec, Amy
O'Hern, Karen
Stoglin, Kristi
Tate, Rio
Hyer, Kathryn
Alzheimer's Association Project VITAL: A Florida Statewide Initiative Using Technology to Impact Social Isolation and Well-Being
title Alzheimer's Association Project VITAL: A Florida Statewide Initiative Using Technology to Impact Social Isolation and Well-Being
title_full Alzheimer's Association Project VITAL: A Florida Statewide Initiative Using Technology to Impact Social Isolation and Well-Being
title_fullStr Alzheimer's Association Project VITAL: A Florida Statewide Initiative Using Technology to Impact Social Isolation and Well-Being
title_full_unstemmed Alzheimer's Association Project VITAL: A Florida Statewide Initiative Using Technology to Impact Social Isolation and Well-Being
title_short Alzheimer's Association Project VITAL: A Florida Statewide Initiative Using Technology to Impact Social Isolation and Well-Being
title_sort alzheimer's association project vital: a florida statewide initiative using technology to impact social isolation and well-being
topic Public Health
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8674735/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34926365
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.720180
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