Home-based telemedicine may prove a successful delivery method to address dementia risk in older Americans, according to researchers from the Indianapolis-based Indiana University Center for Aging Research.
The researchers plan to develop a cognitive training and physical exercise program — delivered to patients' homes via telemedicine — and test whether such a program could decrease dementia in patients who experienced delirium while in a hospital's intensive care unit. Delirium is a type of acute brain failure affecting 70 percent of older ICU patients, which predisposes them to long-term disabilities like dementia.
The researchers will conduct a trial of 300 seniors who are former ICU patients. Each patient will undergo one of four home-based telemedicine programs, which will coach participants through a mix of cognitive training, physical exercise and brain health counseling. The researchers will provide participants with computers and wireless internet access for the study's video conferences.
The NIH's National Institute on Aging awarded the researchers a $3.48 million grant for the study.