Voice intelligent personal assistant for managing social isolation and depression in homebound older adults

Background: Loneliness and social isolation are both common in older adults in the United States Social distancing, which may cause increased isolation, is an essential public health strategy during a pandemic such as COVID-19, especially for those older adults at increased risk of morbidity and mortality Strategies are needed to mitigate the negative effects of social isolation on the mental and physical health of older adults Voice Intelligent Personal Assistants (VIPAs) (e g Google Home) may be useful to homebound older adults with social isolation by connecting them to family, caregivers, and medical care and providing functional, cognitive, and social stimulation Methods: A panel of stakeholders (n=25) with geriatrics expertise, including geriatricians, nurses, nurse practitioners, older adults, social workers, and caregivers of older adults, independently used a VIPA for 4 weeks Participants then completed a survey where they were asked to describe the features that would be the most relevant for older adults to help minimize social isolation, provide feedback on ease of use of the device, and share information about use that might be helpful for older adults Mixed method analysis will be conducted with qualitative responses analyzed using thematic and constant comparative analysis Results: Participants have been provided VIPAs and are completing surveys about the use We anticipate the results of the surveys and analysis will provide information pertaining to improving the utility of VIPA for older adults Conclusions: Stakeholders with geriatrics expertise will identify several features of VIPAs that may be useful to homebound older adults with social isolation Based on results, a companion booklet to the VIPA will be designed highlighting applications that may benefit older adults with social isolation and providing instructions tailored to older adults to facilitate use of the VIPA in the home Future research will test the VIPA and companion booklet with homebound older adults to examine the effects on social isolation and depression