The VESPA Pilot Study

Part of paid clinical trials in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Sponsor
Wake Forest University
Study ID
NCT04756245
Status
Recruiting
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Conditions

  • Behavior
  • Exercise
  • Loneliness
  • Social Isolation

Eligibility Criteria

Sex
ALL
Age
45 Years - 80 Years
Healthy Volunteers
Accepted

Interventions

  • Virtual Reality — BEHAVIORAL
    Participants in this arm participate in 4 group-based behavioral counseling sessions plus 8 one-on-one coaching session within virtual reality software. Participants aim to engage in approximately 150 minutes per week of moderate-to-vigorous activity, with options including both virtual reality and real-world physical activities.
  • Video Conference — BEHAVIORAL
    Participants in this arm participate in 4 group-based behavioral counseling sessions plus 8 one-on-one coaching session within video conference software. Participants aim to engage in approximately 150 minutes per week of moderate-to-vigorous activity, with options including both streaming video and real-world physical activities.

Study Details

Physical activity has been described by the US federal government as a 'best buy' for public health. Unfortunately, most adults in the United States are not sufficiently active, and this worsens with age. Low levels of participation are driven by many challenging barriers, including lack of access, few opportunities for enjoyable activity, and few supportive social relationships, which is especially important given the central role of social connection for lasting behavior change. A half-century of research in behavioral sciences has generated effective group-based physical activity programs, but these are inaccessible to most as they are often delivered in a few select research centers. Recent advances in telehealth have offered media for extending these interventions more broadly, but the experience of such programs is often hampered by technology that does not allow for a sense of physical and social presence. Fortunately, uptake of virtual reality (VR) is increasing rapidly, and the medium has a high level of potential for advancing the delivery of immersive evidence-based group interventions to those that most need it. Thus our specific aims are: Specific aim 1: To test the feasibility and acceptability of a group-mediated physical activity intervention delivered fully via modern VR to older adults. Specific aim 2: To examine the impact of this program on overall physical activity among older adults compared to the current standard-of-care for telehealth: the video conference meeting platform.

Key Dates

Start date
Dec 17, 2020
Status verified
Jul 2025
Primary completion
Aug 30, 2026
Completion
Dec 30, 2026

Study Design

Enrollment
30 participants (estimated)
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION

Arms

  • Experimental: Virtual Reality
    Participants engage in intervention procedures using virtual reality software.
  • Active Comparator: Video Conference
    Participants engage in intervention procedures using video conference software.

Primary Outcome Measure

The percentage of individuals attending all one-on-one and group calls [ Time Frame: Weeks 0 through 4 ]

Central Contacts

Locations (1)

FacilityCityStateZIPSite coordinators
Wake Forest UniversityWinston-SalemNorth Carolina27109
Kyle Kershner, BS
[email protected]
336-758-3728

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