Active clinical trials for "Dementia"

Advance care planning (ACP) has been widely advocated to persons with early stage dementia (PWEDs). This feasibility trial aims to test a theory-based ACP programme "Have a Say" specifically designed for this population, which is underpinned by the Bandura's self-efficacy model. It is the first of its kind in Hong Kong and will be conducted in the community through medical-social collaboration. The aim of this study is to test the feasibility and preliminary effects of the "Have a Say" programme. It is hypothesized that participants in the intervention group will be more engaged in ACP and their dyadic concordance on end-of-life care preference with their family caregivers will be significantly higher than that in the control group.

Attending day care centres with programs specifically designed for patients with dementia is believed to postpone admittance to nursing home as well as increase quality of life and well-being for both patients and their family caregivers. We aim to investigate to what degree attendance in day care centres with programs for people with dementia is effective for patient and their caregivers whilst also cost efficient for society. The study consists of a quasi-experimental trial with comparison group. 400 patients with dementia, along with a family caregiver, will be included in the trial. Effects will be measured at baseline, after one and two years. Data collection will be made at three levels; at patient level with measures of cognition, depression, quality of life, functioning in activities in daily living, neuropsychiatric symptoms and death; at caregiver level with measures of depression, level of burden and quality of life; and at societal level with measures of nursing home admittance, hospital stays and use of other health resources. Additionally,a qualitative interview study will include 20 dyads from the main trial. The main focus will be on how attending day care centre programs for patients with dementia affect the lives of both patients and caregivers. Five of these dyads will be followed closely throughout the participation period to be used as case examples.

Cognitive function, behavioral and psychological symptoms, and quality of life will improve after administration of cognitive stimulation therapy, reminiscence therapy, and aroma-massage therapy in patients with dementia.

Dementia is a common and devastating disease in the elderly. No cure exist and there is an increasing need for care. To improve knowledge on how to provide better care for the patients with dementia in nursing homes, the investigators will carry out a controlled trial using two forms of education and developmental interventions towards the nursing home care staff: a structured framework (VIPS) and dementia care mapping (DCM)to develop person-centred care in a 10 months randomised controlled study. In accordance with the knowledge found in the literature the investigators hypothesize that both VIPS framework and DCM will be more effective than a traditional educational program about dementia provided to the staff in nursing homes. The positive effects will be seen as reduced agitation in patients, less use of psychotropic drugs and improved quality of life. Using VIPS framework and DCM will also have a better effect on staffs' well-being than traditional education in dementia. The aim of the study is to confirm or reject these hypotheses.

Emerging research on family caregiving and institutionalization has emphasized that families do not disengage from care responsibilities following a relative's admission to residential long-term care settings. The Residential Care Transition Module (RCTM) provides 6 formal sessions of consultation (one-to-one and family sessions) over a 4-month period to those family caregivers who have admitted a cognitively impaired relative to a residential long-term care setting (nursing home, assisted living memory care unit). The proposed mixed method, randomized controlled trial will determine whether and how the RCTM decreases family caregivers' emotional and psychological distress, placement-related strain, and increases relative's transitions back to the community. The RCTM will fill an important clinical and research gap by evaluating a psychosocial intervention designed for families following RLTC placement to determine whether and how this approach can help families better navigate the residential care transitions of relatives with Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia.

The aim of this trial was to apply a home based, flexible, stepped-care intervention designed to improve the awareness and knowledge of family caregivers regarding dementia, to maximise their caregiving resources and to improve their caregiving skills. A Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) will be used to evaluate the same wherein the intervention group will get the services immediately and the control arm would receive the same after a period of 6 months.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether treating sleep apnea with continuous positive airway pressure would result in improvements in cognition in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

This research is an evaluation of the MMHU compared to standard care. Patients who are over 65 and 'confused' at admission will be randomly allocated to the MMHU or standard care. The MMHU does not have capacity for all confused older patients admitted to NUH, and random allocation is similar to what happens in practice currently. For this study, 480 of these patients will be recruited, together with a carer (240 from the MMHU, 240 from standard care wards). The investigators will collect baseline information about the patient participant's physical and mental health and disability. The investigators will count the total days spent at home and measure patient participants' health status after 3 months, and use of resources over six months. Carer strain and quality of life will be measured at baseline and follow up.

In the Netherlands a rapidly increasing number of multidisciplinary memory clinics (MMC) currently diagnose 25% of the patients with dementia. Following the diagnostic work-up, MMCs are increasingly involved in post-diagnosis treatment and coordination of care, which probably is very important for patients and caregivers, but also very time consuming and expensive. This study will focus on the important question whether this complex post-diagnosis treatment and care coordination, evaluated both on effectiveness and costs, should be carried out by MMCs (intervention) or by General Practitioners (GPs) (control) as pivot of delivery of health care for these patients. Objectives: To determine MMCs' effectiveness and cost-effectiveness in post-diagnosis treatment and care-coordination for dementia-patients and their caregivers compared to the post-diagnosis treatment and care coordination by GPs. Time schedule: 12 months for including patients and their caregivers and 12 months of follow-up. Annex Study: Specifically for the Health Technology Assessment (HTA) methodology study the main study will be extended with some experimental proxy measurements and alternative measurement approaches. The objective of this Annex-study is to explore the feasibility and validity of Health Related Quality of Life (HRQL) value measurement in dementia patients. And to study the characteristics of proxy rating in HRQL research in dementia and the suitability and validity of yielding HRQL measurements by proxy assessment. Furthermore to explore the validity, reliability, and feasibility of the EQ5D and EQ6D in dementia research (in patients and in/by proxies); response shift, and alternative (more simple) methods of HRQL measurement and validate the Dutch versions of the QOL-AD and the use of the CarerQol-7D in dementia research.

BACKGROUND: Advance care planning (ACP) is the process in which patients plan for future medical care under circumstances of impaired decision-making. Video is an underutilized medium that can assist clinicians in discussions of future health states, such as the state of advanced dementia. Video may enable patients to visualize the future by concisely providing complex information vital for ACP. This study will examine whether the use of video could facilitate a more comprehensive understanding of advanced dementia and inform clinician-patient discussions about the level of care a patient would want in the event of advanced dementia. RESEARCH PLAN: We propose to conduct a randomized trial studying ACP for 200 elderly subjects using a video depiction of a patient with dementia compared to the traditional verbal narrative. Specific aims 1 and 2 assess the effect of a video of advanced dementia on the clinical decision making of elderly subjects compared to the traditional verbal narrative.