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The effects of virtual reality and video conferencing on personal and relational well-being among older adults with cognitive impairments and their adult children: The Thrive randomized controlled trial
Afifi T, Collins N, Rand K, Stamps J, Naffziger E, Truscelli N, Harris P, Neumann T et al.. Research Square, 2026-08-27
Topic: Health services, long-term care and technology
Older adults in senior living communities (SLCs) often face barriers to maintaining emotional well-being and family ties. This stratified, unblinded, parallel-group randomized controlled trial tested a four-week virtual reality (VR) intervention ( Thrive ) designed to improve well-being for older adults with cognitive impairment and their adult children living at a distance, compared to an active video conferencing (VC) control. A total of 186 dyads – each comprising a parent with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) and an adult child – were recruited from 23 SLCs and randomized 1:1 to VR (n=90) or VC (n=96). Primary outcomes – including personal, social, and relational well-being for parents and adult children, and perceived stress and caregiver guilt for adult children – were assessed at baseline, one week post-intervention (primary endpoint), and one and three months post-intervention using intention-to-treat linear mixed models; secondary outcomes captured session engagement via self-report and behavioral coding. Retention was high (89% at post-intervention). Parents with ADRD showed significantly greater improvement in VR than VC for psychological well-being, social connection, and relationship quality, while parents with MCI showed a comparable pattern favoring VC for relationship quality and social connection. Adult children in both conditions reported improved personal, social, and relational well-being, with VR showing more sustained reductions in caregiver guilt through three months. Overall, VR sessions elicited more engagement than VC. These findings indicate that both VR and VC improved well-being and family connection, with VR conferring additional benefits for parents living with dementia and a sustained caregiver-guilt benefit for adult children, suggesting that tailoring technology to cognitive abilities may enhance outcomes in senior care settings.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Afifi, T., Collins, N., Rand, K., Stamps, J., Naffziger, E., Truscelli, N., et al. (2026). The effects of virtual reality and video conferencing on personal and relational well-being among older adults with cognitive impairments and their adult children: The Thrive randomized controlled trial. Research Square. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-10584186/v1
Vancouver
Afifi T, Collins N, Rand K, Stamps J, Naffziger E, Truscelli N, et al. The effects of virtual reality and video conferencing on personal and relational well-being among older adults with cognitive impairments and their adult children: The Thrive randomized controlled trial. Research Square. 2026. doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-10584186/v1.
BibTeX
@article{afifi2026-fb5f31f1,
author = {Afifi, T. and Collins, N. and Rand, K. and Stamps, J. and Naffziger, E. and Truscelli, N. and Harris, P. and Neumann, T. and others},
title = {{The effects of virtual reality and video conferencing on personal and relational well-being among older adults with cognitive impairments and their adult children: The Thrive randomized controlled trial}},
journal = {Research Square},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.21203/rs.3.rs-10584186/v1},
url = {https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-10584186/v1}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- This stratified, unblinded, parallel-group randomized controlled trial tested a four-week virtual reality (VR) intervention ( Thrive ) designed to improve well-being for older adults with cognitive impairment and their adult children living at a distance, compared to an active video conferencing (VC) control.
- Parents with ADRD showed significantly greater improvement in VR than VC for psychological well-being, social connection, and relationship quality, while parents with MCI showed a comparable pattern favoring VC for relationship quality and social connection.
- Overall, VR sessions elicited more engagement than VC.
- These findings indicate that both VR and VC improved well-being and family connection, with VR conferring additional benefits for parents living with dementia and a sustained caregiver-guilt benefit for adult children, suggesting that tailoring technology to cognitive abilities may enhance outcomes in senior care settings.
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Study details
- Study designrandomized controlled trial
- Participants90
- Evidence strengthHigh
How this study scored 16/100
Preprint — not yet peer-reviewed. It scored 53 on the same rubric, but non-peer-reviewed sources are capped at 16, so it shows as 16. Scored zero for effect reported because the record does not state it. We have no data on times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multicenter collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 33 of the 62 points we could judge it on, which is 53 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 2 / 10 | Tier 4 — not a peer-reviewed journal (Research Square) |
| Journal's citation record | 0 / 4 | Not a journal article, so the journal's record does not count |
| Study design | 11 / 12 | A randomized controlled trial |
| Strength of evidence | 5 / 5 | Rated “high” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 4 / 10 | Preprint — not yet peer-reviewed. Hosted on a preprint server. |
| How recent | 5 / 5 | 2026 — within 1 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 1 / 4 | 90 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomized / blinded | 1 / 2 | Randomized (as stated in the record) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multicenter collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 1 / 2 | Not in PubMed, but has a DOI |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 33 / 62 | Scored on 12 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 33 of the 62 points we could judge it on is 53 out of 100. |
| Total | 53 / 100 | Capped to 16 because this is not a peer-reviewed article. |
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