VICA: A Virtual Care Assistant for Dementia Caregivers

Summary

This pilot randomized controlled trial evaluates the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of VICA, an AI-powered virtual care assistant that delivers evidence-based education, symptom monitoring, and coaching to informal caregivers of people living with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). Sixty caregiver-patient dyads will be randomized 1:1 to VICA or an attention-control education app (Dementia Guide Expert) for 3 months. The study will assess recruitment, VICA acceptance/usability, and engagement (Aim 1), and estimate effect sizes for reducing patient behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) and caregiver distress (Aim 2).

Interventions

• VICA - Virtual Informal Care Assistant · DEVICE

  An AI-powered avatar delivering conversational, speech-to-speech and text-based education, resource information, and symptom-monitoring support to informal caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD), grounded in the ABC collaborative dementia care model via a retrieval-augmented generation system.

• Education only BPSD mobile app · DEVICE

  Access to Dementia Guide Expert, an existing free, education-only BPSD mobile app (ENGAGE-IL initiative, University of Illinois at Chicago), used on the same 3x/week, \~20 minute schedule for 3 months. No interactive coaching, assessment, or personalized response.

Published eligibility criteria

Verbatim from the registry. Only the site can decide how these apply to a specific patient.

Inclusion Criteria: Patient

* Age ≥ 65 years
* Community-dwelling
* Diagnosed with ADRD
* Clinical notes indicate behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) Inclusion Criteria: Informal Caregiver
* Age ≥ 21 years
* Self-identified informal caregiver of a community-dwelling patient diagnosed with ADRD
* Provides ≥ 10 hours/week of care to the patient with ADRD
* Regular access to a computer and/or smart device with internet
* English-literate; assessed as "adequate" on the Single Item Literacy Screener

Exclusion Criteria: Patient

* Life expectancy less than 6 months

Exclusion Criteria: Informal Caregiver

* Clinician-reported cognitive impairment
* Clinician-reported severe mental illness or substance use disorder
* Clinician-reported life expectancy of less than 6 months
* Unable to provide informed consent

Sites (1)

• Eskanazi Health, Indianapolis, Indiana