Oral Presentation Australian and New Zealand Society for Geriatric Medicine Annual Scientific Meeting 2026

A Type 1 Implementation Trial Testing A Digital Behaviour Change Intervention to AVOID Frailty in Community Dwelling Non-Frail Older (60+) Adults (#49)

Renuka Visvanathan 1 2 , Joanne Dollard 1 , Agathe Jadczak 1 , Halkett I 3 , Graeme Tucker 1 , Mark MQ Thompson 1 , Sharanya Mahadavan 1 , Jini Thomas 1 , Lissy Oxford 4 , John Muscedere 5
  1. Adelaide Geriatricis Training and Research with Aged Care (GTRAC), School of Medicine, College of Health, Adelaide, SA, Australia
  2. Aged & Extended Care Services, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Central Adelaide Local Health Network, Adelaide, SA , Australia
  3. Consumer Researcher, City of Charles Sturt, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
  4. City of Charles Sturt, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
  5. Queens University and Canadian Frailty Network, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

Aims: This Type 1 implementation trial evaluated the effectiveness and implementation of a digital behaviour change intervention (DBCI) designed to empower older, non-frail adults to adopt AVOID (Activity, Vaccination, Optimising medication, Interaction and socialisation, Diet and nutrition) aligned behaviours to prevent frailty.

Methods: The DBCI included baseline tailored recommendations and a personalised behaviour change report at three months. Behaviour change techniques included education, local community resource library, goal-setting, gamification and nudging. Intervention group participants received newsletters and were invited to face-to-face expert talks.

Sixty community-dwelling adults, aged 60+ years, from one South Australian local council were randomised to receive the DBCI (n=31) or wait (control; n=29) for 6 months to receive limited DBCI access. Repeated-measures mixed models and an intention-to-treat approach were applied to assess between-group differences in change in frailty index (FI) and quality of life (QoL, EQ5D) scores from baseline to 6 months. Qualitative analysis of survey and focus group data from the intervention group assessed technology acceptance, perceived knowledge and behaviour change.

Results: Median age was 75.4 years, and 63.3% were female. The difference in mean change in FI score was -0.044 (95% confidence interval [CI] -0.076 to -0.012) and 0.032 (95% CI 0.016-0.058) for QOL when the intervention group was compared to the control. Qualitatively, the DBCI was perceived as acceptable and reported to improve knowledge and support behaviour change across AVOID behaviours.

Conclusion: A DBCI intervention promoting the adoption of AVOID in non-frail older people is effective for preventing frailty and improving QOL when implemented.