InCoPE-App: Study protocol for the usability and effectiveness of the individualized, tablet-based multimodal exercise program for institutionalized individuals with dementia delivered by nursing home employees. (Preprint)

BACKGROUND The Covid-19 pandemic has drastic consequences on everyday life in nursing homes. Limited personal resources and high hygiene standards often lead to interrupting physical exercise treatment. As a consequence, individuals with dementia (IWD) profiting from individualized exercise programs, are affected by the pandemic’s impact. OBJECTIVE Our goal is to develop an easily applicable application allowing nursing home employees (NHE) to test cognitive function and physical performance, and subsequently train IWD by a multimodal individualized exercise program. METHODS We will evaluate the InCoPE-App by applying a mixed method design. NHE will use the InCoPE-app for 18-weeks assessing cognitive function and physical performance of 44 IWD every three weeks and applying the individualized exercise program. We will record usability by log events, Post-Study System Usability and ISONORM 9241/10 questionnaires, as well as interviews focusing on satisfaction. Perceived hedonic and pragmatic quality will be assessed by AttrakDiff questionnaire. The effectiveness will be evaluated by changes in the quality of life as well as cognitive function and physical performance. RESULTS Enrollment of the study will be completed in the first half of 2022. We expect an improvement of the quality of life of IWD accompanied by improvements in cognitive function and physical performance. The usability of the InCoPE-App is expected to be well rated by NHE. CONCLUSIONS To date, there is no scientifically evaluated app available that enables NHE without expertise in sports science to deliver an individualized exercise program. A high usable and effective InCoPE-App allows NHE to test cognitive function and physical performance of IWD and, based thereon, select and deliver the most appropriate individualized exercise program, even in times of the pandemic. CLINICALTRIAL The study has been approved by the Ethics Committee of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. German Register of Clinical Trials, drks.de. Identifier: DRKS00024069. Date of registration: 23 March 2021.