Innovative web-based service platform called Adult Wellbeing CheckUp (AWC) to assess older adults wellbeing, obtain evidence-based recommendations, and receive support to take action

PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT Older adults in America are living longer, and there are more of them than at any other time in the country’s history. U.S. adults aged 65 and older are expected to increase from 54 million in 2020 to over 80 million by 2040. Older adults are at risk for poor health in many areas of life, including physical, mental, social, and financial health. They want to age successfully as they seek information from their health care providers and publicly available sources. Over 40% of adults use the internet for health information, although there is mistrust and confusion because the availability of information is generic and scattered through many different resources. For this Fast Track SBIR project, we propose the Adult Wellbeing Checkup (AWC) - an innovative and informative assessment and recommendation tool that will help older adults assess their wellbeing in twelve different domains and then receive personalized guidance (based on a collectively intelligent hybrid reasoning methodology) on how to improve wellbeing in domains that were low-scoring and want to improve. AWC will be designed and developed by BellAge, led by Principal Investigator (PI), James Firman, in collaboration with Yong Choi and Stephen Engels, and supported by Benten Technologies. The specific aims of Phase I are: 1) Develop a prototype of the AWC with personalized recommendations in two of the twelve domains from formative research; 2) Conduct a 4-week pilot with 8 older adult care partners (CPs) and 8 older adult non-CPs from three senior centers to assess feasibility (engagement, usability, and acceptance). The specific aims of Phase II are to 1) Modify the AWC prototype for commercialization and provide personalized recommendations for more wellbeing domains, and 2) Conduct a randomized control trial (RCT) with 25 older adult CPs and 25 older adult non-CPs in eight research sites examining three of the twelve domains (i.e., loneliness, physical health, mental health) to significantly improve engagement, self-efficacy, and wellbeing on one or more domains. The short-term impact will be the feasibility, acceptance, and engagement of older adults with the AWC platform. Then, in Phase II, if successful, this study will demonstrate the development and implementation of personalized guidance can result in behavior change among older adults. Furthermore, the assessment could improve wellbeing measurement for state-funded programs and organizations, allowing longitudinal data collection to prompt future funding and development. For future research, we would further develop the platform to provide personalized recommendations for the remaining nine domains. Ultimately, this service could be a guidance system and preventative care intervention for many aspects of life for older adults.