NCT04756245

The VESPA Pilot Study

The Virtually Engaging Socially With Physical Activity (VESPA) Pilot Study

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 30 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Wake Forest University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 45 Years – 80 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

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.

Conditions

• Exercise
• Behavior
• Loneliness
• Social Isolation

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Virtual Reality	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.
BEHAVIORAL	Video Conference	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.

Timeline

• Start date: 2020-12-17
• Primary completion: 2026-08-30
• Completion: 2026-12-30
• First posted: 2021-02-16
• Last updated: 2025-07-16

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States