Active clinical trials for "Chronic Disease"

This study evaluates the effects of KOL-webben (the COPD web), an interactive web-based system directed towards two target groups; people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and health professionals in primary care. KOL-webben include tools that improve health literacy with a specific focus on 1) increased physical activity and 2) use of appropriate self-management strategies. Moreover, KOL-webben include knowledge and tools directed towards staff in the primary care aimed to implement provision of evidence based health promotion interventions.The feasibility and effects of KOL-webben will be evaluated.

Major barriers to controlling cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in India and elsewhere are: low detection rates, inadequate use of evidence based interventions and low adherence with these interventions. Primary health care is the appropriate setting for improving the prevention and management of these chronic conditions. The investigators will develop and evaluate an innovative mobile health (mHealth) software application -'m-WELLCARE'- which provides a patient health profile, decision support for clinical care, monitoring and feedback for use in Indian Community Health Centers (CHCs). The investigators will conduct this research following the steps proposed by the medical research council (MRC) for evaluation of complex interventions. Technical development of m-WELLCARE will be conducted, user acceptability appraised and potential barriers overcome. m-WELLCARE will be evaluated in CHCs of two states, Haryana and Karnataka. The use made of m-WELLCARE, its impact on patterns of health care received and changes in risk factors achieved will be evaluated.

Fall incidents are the third cause of chronic disablement in elderly according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Recent meta-analyses shows that a multifactorial falls risk assessment and management programs are effective in all older population studied. However, the application of these programs may not be the same in all National health care setting and, consequently, needs to be evacuated by cost-effectiveness studies before to plan this intervention in regular care. In Italy structured collaboration between hospital staff and primary care is generally lacking and the role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in a fall prevention program at home has never been explored. This is a two-group randomized controlled trial aiming to evaluate the effect of a home-based intervention program, delivered by a multidisciplinary health team, in preventing falls in elderly. The home tele-management program, previously adopted in our Institute for chronic patients, will be proposed to elderly people affected by chronic diseases at high risk of falling at time of hospital discharge. The program will involve the hospital staff and will be managed thanks to the collaboration between hospital and primary care setting. Patients will be followed at home for 6 months after hospital discharge. A nurse-tutor will be the case manager and telephone support, telemonitoring and tele-exercise will characterize the intervention program. People in the control group will receive the usual care. The main outcome measure of the study will be the percentage of patients sustaining a fall during the 6-months follow-up period. An economic evaluation will be performed from a societal perspective and will involve calculating cost-effectiveness and cost utility ratios.

The aim of PR1MaC is to establish a clinical intervention that will adapt and permanently integrate rehabilitation services into primary care settings, which would be the reference point in the health care system for people with Chronic diseases (CD). More specifically, the intervention will aim to: (1) clinically operationalize the mechanisms and tools necessary for delivery of integrated CD services, promoting continuity of care in response to the needs expressed by stakeholders; (2) implement and deploy rehabilitation services adapted to the realities of various clinical primary care settings and develop tools to ensure the sustainability of interventions beyond the rehabilitation period; and (3) support clinical primary care teams in the acquisition and maintenance of evidence-based practices for the targeted CDs.

In partnership with patients, caregivers, advocacy groups and clinicians, the investigators plan to: Aim 1: Adapt and refine PREPARE in Spanish through cognitive interviews with Spanish-speaking Latinos and stakeholders. Aim 2: Conduct a randomized clinical trial (RCT) to compare the efficacy of PREPARE plus a previously-tested, easy-to-read- AD (intervention) versus the AD alone (control) to: 2a. Engage older Spanish-speaking Latinos in multiple ACP behaviors (i.e., identify and discuss wishes with surrogates and clinicians and complete ADs) measured by self-report, chart review, surrogate reports, and 2b. Direct observation. 2c. Improve self-efficacy and satisfaction with medical decision making. 2d. Determine whether PREPARE efficacy varies by literacy, decision control preferences, and clinician-patient language concordance. Aim 3: Disseminate PREPARE with input from patients, surrogates, and stakeholders.

Acute, randomized, placebo controlled, double blind, postprandial crossover study in male subjects. 4 intervention arms consisting of control, orange juice, whole orange, and processed whole orange to determine the effect of the interventions on the primary measure of flow mediated dilatation (FMD) and additional biomarkers of health. The study will also identify and quantify the main micronutrients and phytochemicals in each of the products and will identify and quantify the main micronutrients and phytochemicals and their metabolites in the subjects' plasma and/or urine. A subset of the study population (n=24) will be invited to participate in an additional arm of the main study which is summarised below.

The objective of this proposal is to test whether a multi-media website (www.prepareforyourcare.org) that is focused on preparing older adults for communication and medical decision making can help people engage in advance care planning.

Previous studies have demonstrated that resistance training (RT) is beneficial to increase muscle strength, improve functional ability and the ability to rapidly produce force, known as the contractile rate of force development (RFD) in older adults. However, much less research has focused on the effect of RT on the lower extremity muscle strength, contractile RFD and impulse in middle-aged and older people with musculoskeletal conditions, especially for osteoporosis (OP) (or osteopenia) or knee osteoarthritis (KOA). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of RT on the lower extremity muscle strength, RFD and impulse in middle-aged and older people with musculoskeletal conditions, especially for OP and knee OA (KOA). The investigators hypothesized that such a training program would lead to induce not only specific muscle strength enhancement but also an increment in contractile RFD and impulse.

The research activities funded through PAR "Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health" in grant R21NR011112 "Legacy Intervention Family Enactment (LIFE)" have been varied and highly successful. The LIFE project was designed with three primary objectives. Aim 1 was to assess the efficacy of LIFE as delivered by Retired Senior Volunteers (RSVs) on palliative care patients': (a) mood and emotional experience; (b) physical symptom burden; and (c) experience of meaning. Aim 2 was to assess the efficacy of LIFE as delivered by RSVs on one primary family caregiver's: (a) caregiving stress; (b) mood and emotional experience; and (c) experience of positive aspects of caregiving. Aim 3 was to assess the ability of RSVs to deliver LIFE effectively. Although hospice and palliative care social workers frequently use reminiscence and creative activities with their patients 16, such interventions need to be more accessible to patients and families transitioning from community, hospital, and palliative care settings. If hospice or palliative care is not chosen as a treatment option, few means of delivering therapeutic reminiscence-based interventions exist. This represents a significant gap in practice and in the psychosocial palliative care intervention literature. Kazdin and Blase (2011) argue cogently that the community need for mental health services far outstrips the number of providers available to assist those in distress. They call strongly for new intervention delivery modes targeting prevention and treatment to alleviate suffering. Hence, the purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of retired senior volunteers (RSVs), who are available nationally through the National Senior Corp Program, to deliver a three-session reminiscence and creative activity intervention previously found effective in improving palliative care patient and caregiver outcomes (Allen, 2009; Allen, Hilgeman, Ege, Shuster, & Burgio, 2008). We hypothesized that palliative care patients and their caregivers in the RSV-delivered intervention group would demonstrate improved emotional and spiritual functioning relative to a supportive contact control group. If successful, this mode of treatment delivery (e.g., RSV intervention) would represent a significant step toward translation and greater access at earlier disease stages of therapeutic psychosocial interventions for individuals near the end of life and their family members.

Millions of diverse Veterans live with severe and chronic illness for which they will face complex, ongoing decisions. Although the VHA has been at the forefront of patient-centered chronic care, interventions to prepare Veterans for complex decision-making over the course of chronic illness are lacking. This proposal addresses this gap by testing the efficacy of a novel preparation guide designed to prepare Veterans to communicate with their surrogates and to work with clinicians to make complex, ongoing decisions. The multi-media guide teaches communication and preparation skill behaviors (e.g., how to choose a surrogate and ask clinicians questions) in a culturally appropriate, easy-to-use format (targeted to a 5th grade reading level). This study aims to provide an impetus for changing the paradigm of advance care planning policies within the VA by moving beyond documentation of end-of-life wishes to the activation of Veterans to participate in ongoing communication of their values and goals - a process that is essential to fully realize patient-centered care.