Development of a Virtual Health Promotion Intervention for Older Adults with Cognitive Impairment: A Formative Study

This study evaluated the perspectives of clinicians and dyads (adults with early-stage ADRD and caregivers) on virtually-delivered care and how it relates to the development of a health promotion intervention to slow cognitive decline. Ten clinicians and 10 dyads were recruited via various recruitment platforms. All participated in one semi-structured interview via Zoom focusing on cognitive challenges, barriers, their current virtual-based experiences, and the ideas to improve a proposed virtual-based exercise and nutrition-based intervention. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis. Dyads' perspective identified four major themes for persons with cognitive challenges: (1) Barriers to receiving care for older adults with dementia; (2) Receptivity to receiving virtual-based care if this was balanced with in-person visits; and (3) Enthusiasm if an exercise and nutrition-based intervention delivered virtually can improve access to care but lead to increased anxiety about using technology. Clinicians believed that limited access to receiving care and limited time in clinic were barriers for persons with dementia but having a virtual-based intervention could potentially overcome these challenges and engage individuals. These perspectives aligned with those of the dyads. Participants overall supported virtual-based care and that with careful design, showed promise in developing an exercise and nutrition-based intervention as a possible means to slow cognitive decline.