Enhancing Social Engagement through Online Gameplay for Older Adults with and without Mild Cognitive Impairment

ABSTRACT This Fast Track SBIR proposal submitted by Potluck LLC (Philadelphia, PA) requests funds to design and rigorously test the integration of multiplayer games into the online social engagement platform (OneClick) for adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The long-term goal is to benefit health outcomes that are affected by social engagement or lack thereof, such as survival and the onset of dementia. Older adults are at risk of social isolation, and therefore, negative health and quality-of-life outcomes. The existing OneClick platform connects people through live, small-group, video conversation, and has been optimized for older adults with MCI. In this new project, games already well known and enjoyable to older adults will be integrated into the OneClick platform to enhance social interaction between older adults, their family, and close friends. In collaboration with experts in aging, cognitive decline, and technology and game design, new game interfaces will be designed, tested and integrated into the existing platform. Phase I will establish feasibility and optimize in-game social interaction for older adults with and without MCI. In Aim 1, facilitators and barriers of online social gameplay and interaction will be identified through formative research and observational studies of older adults with and without MCI playing in-person and online games. In Aim 2, Aim 1 findings will be used to design and implement an intuitive and pleasant gameplay interface that will be compared against in-person gameplay experiences to demonstrate technical feasibility. In Phase II, the efficacy of online game play as a social engagement intervention will be tested in a properly-powered Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT), and the scalability and market-readiness of the new product tested in a real-world pilot with an established industry partner. In Aim 3, the new OneClick platform, intervention content, and implementation protocols will be finalized based on Phase I learnings. This will prepare for Aim 4, a 12-week RCT that tests intervention efficacy: 124 older adults with and without MCI (62 each) will be randomized to the OneClick intervention group or a Wait-list control group. The intervention group will use OneClick for 12 weeks, while the Wait-listed control group receives no intervention. Both groups complete social isolation and engagement assessments after 6 and 12 weeks. Subsequently, participants in the Wait-listed control group will start the intervention, with assessments after 6 and 12 weeks. Within and between-group comparisons over time will determine effects on social engagement, quality of life, technology acceptance, and subjective stress. In Aim 5, proven methods, materials and content will be handed over to an industry partner to assess scalability by evaluating whether the new online social gaming platform can be readily implemented and support social engagement among the independently living older adults they serve. The deliverable is a rigorous and effective social engagement technology ready for broad commercialization.