Validation of an interactive voice response protocol to evaluate cognitive status in an older population

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The main long-term objective of the present project is to maximize the use and usability of Interactive VoiceResponse (IVR ) tele-presence systems for elderly people. Furthermore, this project aims 1) to developadaptive IVR (AIVR) strategies hat adapt to the sensory limitations and the cognitive abilities of participants 2)to increase the motivation to use the IVR systems through an interactive adaptation to each caller. Thedevelopment of expertise and proprietary algorithms that increase the usability of IVR for older people willimprove Canada's technological edge in that fast-growing market. The current developments incomputer-assisted interactive voice recognition allow an extensive range of questions to be asked. Theresponses can be decoded from natural speech to text, incorporated in a database that can be consulted byhealth practitioners. An interactive collection of validated questions can act as a screening and triage tool todirect people to human resources that are more personnel- or cost-intensive. Our long-term goals are toimprove tele-presence systems in this way. However, before such systems are workable, an important obstacle much be overcome. Put simply: a high percentage of elderly people do not like, do not want to use or cannot use IVR tele-presence systems. This seriously limits their utility. Therefore, the objectives of the present grant concern development of innovativetechnologies to overcome these difficulties. Although there has been improvement in IVR algorithms tofacilitate its use, all systems are still developed to serve an "average" person. The goal of the presentapplication is to develop adaptive Interactive Voice Response (AIVR) systems that can quickly evaluate thegeneral cognitive and memory abilities of users and then triage users into two or more different algorithmsadapted to each person's cognitive ability.