Active clinical trials for "Dementia"

This study aims to develop and evaluate in-home assistive technology that is designed to alleviate anxiety, burden, and loneliness in spousal and familial caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia.

Enhancing the mealtime experience through changing the social and physical aspects of dining holds the potential to not only improve food intake among residents, but enhance their quality of life. The CHOICE+ Program is designed to support relationship-centred mealtimes in long-term care (LTC). This current study will pilot the CHOICE+ Program over the course of 18 months in three LTC homes with the support of a single external facilitator. The research team will collect data at mealtimes and from staff, residents and family members to determine what changes occurred and how this impacted the mealtime experience. The results of this study will provide insight into the efficacy of the CHOICE+ Program and if the program holds potential to improve mealtimes for residents in LTC through relationship-centered dining, as well as capacity building among those who live and work in the home to identify areas for improvement and work together to make change.

Health care professionals lack tools to deal with acute pain in patients with moderate to severe dementia during daily nursing situations. Care-induced pain in institutionalized persons with cognitive impairments can cause anxiety and behavioral problems.The aim of this study is to demonstrate that a systematic identification of pain associated with the use of social robots such as the PARO robot may contribute to a better anticipation and management of care-induced pain. The investigators hypothesize that an individual use of the PARO robot would bring relaxation to the patient, a distraction regarding the aversive situation of care and, thus, it would prevent manifestations of acute pain in patients with dementia. Secondary objectives of the study : determine the effect of the use of PARO during painful cares on quality of life, medication of patients, and perceived workload of the health-care team. examine socio-demographic and clinical responders' participants to the intervention, and, identify essential elements regarding cost-effectiveness of a systematic evaluation of pain and a mediation with the PARO robot in care-induced pain

In the last few decades, insights into the impact of the sonic environment on persons have grown to include not only the adverse effects of extensive mechanical noise but also the beneficial effects of a well-designed sonic environment. People with dementia, however, perceive and understand the sonic environment differently. The most obvious difference is that the meanings they may give to the sounds they notice due to changing mental associations. However, also at an earlier perceptual stage, attention focusing and gating may be affected, reducing their ability to analyze a complex auditory scene. Behaviour associated with the appraisal of the sound environment may change with the emergence of dementia. The objective of this study is to determine the effect size of a carefully tuned personalized sonic environment (delivered via AcustiCare) on agitation and distress (NPI and PAS), night sleep and stress (Via wristband) and on quality of life (QUALIDEM) in a population of older adults with dementia and behavioural symptoms.

Loss of independence, cognitive decline, and difficulties in everyday function are areas of great concern for older adults and their families. From a public health perspective, successful efforts that enable older adults to age within their homes, as compared to nursing homes, will save an estimated $80 billion dollars per year. Cognitive training is one intervention that maintains cognition, everyday function, and health. Although clearly an important and effective intervention, the mediators, or mechanisms, underlying this program are unknown. Our overall objective is to assess the cognitive and psychosocial factors within daily life that account for the transfer of one form of cognitive training to everyday function. This exploratory double-blind trial will randomize older adults to 20 hours of cognitive training or cognitively stimulating activities. The investigators will assess cognitive and psychosocial factors before, during, and after training within daily life. The investigators will then compare such factors and assess how they impact the transfer of cognitive training to everyday functioning. The investigators will also include an eligible sub group of the EFIT participants who will have functional MRI brain scans and sleep evaluation using the Sleep Profiler, a clinically approved device, at pre and post brain training. The investigators will also monitor daily activity in this sub group using FitBIt watches. Our central hypothesis is that improvements in daily processing speed and attention, key components of higher order cognitive functions, will have the strongest relationship with everyday function changes. This exploratory study is the first of its kind and will be used to provide important data relevant to a future larger randomized controlled trial examining mediators of cognitive training in a representative sample of adults. Additionally, all data collection, with the exception of MRI, can be completed remotely within the participant's home. This information will assist in the future development of more effective home- and community-based interventions that maintain everyday function.

Driving is an important activity for older adults because it frequently relates to personal independence and wellbeing. This study compared the driving behaviors of older drivers with normal cognition and with MCI in unfamiliar driving situations and difficult maneuvers, and explored the practice effect on driving performance of drivers with MCI. This study used an observational, cross-section research design.

The main trial is a 2-group quasi-experimental trial of comparing the outcome indicators between joining and not joining the 10-week personal assistive robot (PARO) training program in residents with dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The study questions are as follows: Primary study questions: i. Can participation of the 10-week PARO training program reduce neuropsychiatric symptoms at week 10? ii. Can participation of the 10-week PARO training program reduce loneliness at week 10? Secondary study questions: iii. Can participation of PARO training session reduce pulse rate (as an indicator of stress and anxiety)? iv. Can participation of PARO training session improve oxygen saturation (as an indicator of stress and anxiety)? v. What are the participants' emotions and engagement in PARO training sessions? Auxiliary study questions: vi. Can participation of the 10-week PARO training program reduce neuropsychiatric symptoms at week 14? vii. Can participation of the 10-week PARO training program reduce loneliness at week 14? viii. Can participation of the 10-week PARO training program improve quality of life at week 10? ix. Can participation of the 10-week PARO training program improve quality of life at week 14? x. Can participation of the 10-week PARO training program improve sleep quality at week 10? xi. Can participation of the 10-week PARO training program improve sleep quality at week 14? xii. Can participation of the 10-week PARO training program improve cognitive functioning at week 10? xiii. Can participation of the 10-week PARO training program improve cognitive functioning at week 14? xiv. What are the feelings, satisfaction, and acceptance of PARO of the participants and PARO facilitators?

This project contains three studies. This study will use a pilot randomized controlled trial to examine the effect of Paro (social robot) intervention on oxytocin, dopamine, and HRV variations and mental well-being for specific attachment older adults with dementia. A randomized controlled trial, single-blind, two parallel groups, and repeated measures design were used to examine the effects of Paro intervention on neurobiologically changes and mental well-being for specific attachment older adults with dementia before, during, and after the intervention.

The effectiveness of psychotropic medication on behavioral and psychological symptoms in dementia (BPDS) is limited, while they are associated with a higher risk of morbidity and mortality. Non-pharmacological treatment of BPSD is advocated as treatment of first choice. However, many general practitioners (GPs) find it difficult to initiate deprescribing and when attempting to discontinue psychotropic drugs in nursing home residents, they can face substantial barriers both among nursing home staff and relatives. Therefore, the investigators have developed an intervention specifically aimed at increasing knowledge on deprescribing and improving communication and collaboration between GPs, nursing home staff, relatives and patients to optimize the pharmacological treatment of BPSD.

The purpose of this project is to develop and test the feasibility and preliminary effects of a program to enhance the capacity of predominantly African American churches to support congregants and their family caregivers who are living with dementia. In particular, this project will examine how dementia-friendly faith village worship services support the well-being of caregivers and care recipients in two African American churches.