Effectiveness of a Smart Community- and Home-based Integrated Care Services System for Elderly People in Rural Chinese Communities: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Changsha County
Effectiveness of a Smart Community- and Home-based Integrated Care Services System for Elderly People in Rural Chinese Communities: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Changsha County
In recent years, the widespread application of emerging information technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, big data, cloud computing, and 5G has made "smart " a new breakthrough in the integrated healthcare and elderly care model. Smart Community- and Home-based Integrated Care Services , utilizing methods such as home hospital beds and mobile medical visits, ensure that key elderly groups with disabilities, dementia, chronic diseases, advanced age, and disabilities can receive the necessary medical services at home. This not only allows the elderly to live in familiar home environments, maintaining their independence and dignity, but also alleviates the pressure on medical resources, enabling more resources to be allocated to emergency care and highly specialized nursing. However, the smart healthcare and elderly care platform model is still in the pilot stage and requires more scientific evidence to verify its actual impact on the health of the elderly.
The purpose： The purpose of this clinical trial is to understand and verify the potential health improvement effects of the smart healthcare and elderly care platform on the elderly. By collecting health indicator data at different time points before and after the intervention, the study will compare the differences in health indicators between community-dwelling elderly who have used the smart healthcare and elderly care platform and those who have not, providing scientific evidence for the promotion of the smart healthcare and elderly care platform model and further facilitating its application and popularization among the elderly in the community.
The main question it aims to answer is: Are community-dwelling elderly who use the smart healthcare and elderly care platform healthier than those who do not use the service? Participants will： Participants will be randomly divided into an experimental group and a control group. The elderly in the experimental group will use the "Hunan Province Integrated Healthcare and Elderly Care Intelligent Service Platform," while the control group will not use the platform for blank control.
Data collection： The research team will collect health indicator data four times, including SF-36, Activities of Daily Living (ADL), and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), at baseline, 3 months post-intervention, 6 months post-intervention, and 12 months post-intervention.
I. Recruitment Phase:
The study will recruit participants from Guoyuan Town, Changsha County. Eligible elderly individuals from rural communities will undergo qualification assessment based on inclusion/exclusion criteria. Accounting for a 20% attrition rate, the study plans to enroll 64 elderly participants from rural communities in Guoyuan Town.
II. Intervention Allocation Phase:
Participants will be randomly assigned to either the experimental or control group using computer-generated randomization. Baseline measurements will be collected using:
SF-36 Health Survey
Activities of Daily Living (ADL) scale
Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS)
The experimental group will receive integrated care services through the "Hunan Province Integrated Smart Healthcare and Elderly Care Service Platform", while the control group will receive standard community care. The intervention includes:
Educational seminars introducing "Hunan Province Integrated Smart Healthcare and Elderly Care Service Platform" services
Assistance with platform registration for experimental group participants
Implementation of integrated care services via the platform
III. Follow-up Phase:
Three follow-up assessments will be conducted at:
3 months post-intervention
6 months post-intervention
12 months post-intervention
Follow-up assessments will repeat baseline measurements (SF-36, ADL, GDS) to evaluate health status changes. Participant attrition will be documented through follow-up tracking. All data will undergo double-entry verification using two independent data clerks maintaining separate files, with regular cross-verification and final reconciliation after the last follow-up.
IV. Analysis Phase:
Statistical comparisons between groups will be performed using:
Independent t-tests
Analysis of variance (ANOVA)
Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria