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Lessons from a COVID-Era Controlled Trial of Online Learning and Socializing with Older Participants

Benefits of Applying Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials

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Human Aspects of IT for the Aged Population (HCII 2023)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 14042))

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Abstract

Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) are the gold standard in health intervention research. However, in lifestyle intervention studies, this methodology is often challenged by the complexity of personal and contextual factors, which are hard to control. To address this challenge, researchers have adopted Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) as a framework to rank the quality of RCTs based on detailed documentation of the design, methodology, and results of the study. In this paper, we present a case study to demonstrate benefits of adopting CONSORT as a framework for designing and conducting a trial to investigate the affordances of information and communication technologies (ICT) in lifestyle interventions. Framed as a randomized controlled trial, our study targeted healthy community-dwelling older adults in Montreal. The study took place between Oct 2021-July 2022 and included qualitative and quantitative data collection, about the benefits of online-learning (digital photography), and on-Zoom group discussions. All pre-post psychometric assessments and interviews were conducted on zoom. We evaluate our study to illustrate: (i) To what extent such RCT design, methodology and reporting can satisfy CONSORT; (ii) Which factors contribute to trials deviations from the CONSORT framework; and (iii) What data acquisition strategies maximize the benefits of applying the CONSORT framework. Our analysis indicate that CONSORT provides a frame within which one can flexibly document and contextualize the dynamics of how ICT interventions could benefit their target population.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. engAGE: Concordia Centre for Research on Aging, Montreal, Canada

    Najmeh Khalili-Mahani & Shannon Hebblethwaite

  2. Department of Design and Computation Arts, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Najmeh Khalili-Mahani

  3. McGill Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Najmeh Khalili-Mahani & Najmeh Khalili-Mahani

  4. Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Berkley Petersen

  5. Department of Applied Human Sciences, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Shannon Hebblethwaite

Authors
  1. Najmeh Khalili-Mahani
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  2. Berkley Petersen
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  3. Shannon Hebblethwaite
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Correspondence to Najmeh Khalili-Mahani .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

    Qin Gao

  2. Chongqing University, Chongqing, China

    Jia Zhou

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Khalili-Mahani, N., Petersen, B., Hebblethwaite, S. (2023). Lessons from a COVID-Era Controlled Trial of Online Learning and Socializing with Older Participants. In: Gao, Q., Zhou, J. (eds) Human Aspects of IT for the Aged Population. HCII 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 14042. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-34866-2_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-34866-2_5

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