Effects of Visual Cues and Education for People Who Live Within Long Term Care Communities to Assist...
Alzheimer DiseaseAlzheimer Dementia2 moreThe ability to find one's way in the world is known as wayfinding. Many older adults who live in senior communities, such as independent living and assisted living residences, find wayfinding very challenging. Often times, these communities are not designed in a way that helps people find their way very easily. When people cannot find their way, they can get lost, be dependent upon others for getting out and about, or even be afraid to leave their rooms. The purpose of this study is to find out if distinctive signs and decorative elements, along with a special type of education called Spaced-Retrieval education, help residents in these communities find their way more effectively. Twelve senior communities will be assigned by chance to one of three conditions, including: 1) control - no change (the community stays the same); 2) signs and decorative elements enhanced; and 3) signs, decorative elements, and special education added. After agreeing to be in the study, the participants will be asked to find their way to certain places in their community four times over a year. Some people will be asked to participate in educational sessions on wayfinding. In addition, some people will be asked to wear a location tracker, (like a fitness tracker), for four weeks during the year. How well people find their way, along with how much they travel about within the communities, will be compared between the three groups. It is hypothesized that those in the communities with special signs and decorative elements will find their way more effectively than those in the control communities. It is also hypothesized that participants in the communities with the special education intervention will find their way better than those without the education. Finally, it is hypothesized that participants in the communities with signs and cues and education will travel about further distances than those in the control communities. The results of the study can help people who have a tendency to get lost find their way more effectively in their community, and this could result in more independence.
A Family-centered Intervention for Acutely-ill Persons With Dementia
Alzheimer DiseaseThis study will address the effectiveness of Family-centered Function Focused Care (Fam-FFC). Fam-FFC is a theoretically-based approach to care in which family caregivers partner with nurses to prevent functional decline and other complications related to hospitalization in older adults with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. A systematic care pathway promotes information-sharing and decision-making that promotes physical activity, function, and cognitive stimulation during the hospitalization and immediate post-acute period. Our goal in this work is to establish a practical and effective way to optimize function and physical activity; decrease neuropsychiatric symptoms, delirium, and depression; prevent avoidable post-acute care dependency; and prevent unnecessary rehospitalizations and long-stay nursing home admissions, while mitigating family caregiver strain and burden.
Care Ecosystem: Navigating Patients and Families Through Stages of Care, Extension Trial
DementiaAlzheimer Disease5 moreThis is an extension trial of a prior trial (NCT02213458). Both persons with dementia (PWD) and their caregivers were enrolled as dyads. The purpose of this randomized clinical trial is to evaluate the benefits of a program that supports model care for PWD and their caregivers. Whereas the prior trial only delivered care and examined outcomes up to 12-months, this trial extends care and outcome measurement for 5 years or until death, and includes all dyads where the caregiver reported high caregiver burden (Zarit-12 greater than or equal to 17) at pre-randomization baseline for the original trial. Participants were recruited from California, Nebraska and Iowa. Participants determined to be eligible were consented and randomized into one of two groups. Two thirds of dyads were enrolled into Navigated Care that provided them with phone-based assistance in meeting important benchmarks in their care, for example completion of legal and financial planning and strategies for minimizing caregiver burden. One third of dyads were enrolled to a control group, entitled Survey of Care. Outcomes were unchanged from the original trial except for the addition of time to long term care placement and are detailed below.
Establishment of Core Competence and Training Model for Dementia Case Management
DementiaThe purpose of this study is to develop the core competence and training model for case management of dementia. This study is the second phase of the project. The first year is the establishment of the training program and the pilot-test stage. The second year is the project implementation and effectiveness evaluation stage, the intervention effectiveness evaluation of the training course for dementia case managers will be conducted.
Supportive Care for Cognitively Impaired Patients and Families
DementiaCurrently almost 5 million Americans suffer from the distressing symptoms related to dementia and this number that will triple by 2050. The overall goals of the proposed project are to evaluate, in community dwelling Alzheimer's Disease Research Center participants the benefits of a 12-month nurse-led early palliative intervention on symptoms, quality of life, health care resource use. The relevance of this research to public health is that there is an urgent need to improve the palliative care of persons with dementia living in the community. This study will contribute substantially to that effort.
Learning and Coping With Early Stage Dementia
DementiaAlzheimer Disease1 moreThe overall aim of this study is to investigate how home dwelling people with early-stage dementia cope with their disease, explored through their participation in a 12-week health promotion course, through 3 sub-studies; 1) The users' experience in gaining information about dementia and meeting others in the same situation, 2) observation of the group interactions and support processes, and 3) investigate the effect of the 12-week health promotion course for people with early stage dementia on their cognitive function, psychosocial function and health behaviour.
Managing Time With Dementia: Effects of Time Assistive Products in People With Dementia
DementiaSweden, like most countries, is undergoing population ageing. This is accompanied by an epidemiologic transition of equal importance, leading to a greater number of people than ever before affected by dementia. Dementia affects thinking, memory, behavior and ability to perform everyday activities, including daily time management. Time orientation and daily management has been shown to influence well-being in older people. There is evidence suggesting that time assistive products can have positive effects on the well-being of both primary users and informal care givers, but this is not sufficient to provide evidence-based guidance for effective interventions, nor to develop innovative and effective solutions. In order to contribute to the development and use of affordable and appropriate innovative assistive products and services for older people with mild or moderate dementia, the purposes of this project are to investigate and model the relationship between the use of time assistive products by older people with dementia, their daily time management and their well-being, and to devise strategies for the acceptance and use of such products by older people with dementia and informal caregivers. A mixed longitudinal approach will be used to attain the first purpose, while the second purpose will be accomplished by applying a qualitative method. Women and men aged 65 or older diagnosed with early or moderate dementia (n=74), and their significant others will be eligible for inclusion. Cooperation with researchers in India and Japan will generate a set of core data, which allows for cross-cultural comparisons of factors related to daily time management and well-being. The three-year project started September 2017, the main study in September 2018. This project can be expected to contribute important knowledge that can advance the effectiveness of cornerstone social policies such as support for ageing in place and healthy and active ageing, and the reduction of social exclusion of older people.
A Trial to Evaluate the Effects of BCG in Adults With MCI and Mild-to-Moderate AD
Mild Cognitive ImpairmentMild Dementia2 moreA study of the effects of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) immunization on cerebrospinal fluid and blood-based biomarkers in older with mild cognitive impairment and mild-to-moderate to Alzheimer's disease.
Improving Communication for Primary Care Patients
Advance Care PlanningDementiaThis is a pragmatic trial of SHARING Choices. Components of SHARING Choices include: A letter from the clinic introducing an initiative to prepare persons and families for Advance Care Planning (ACP); Access to a facilitator trained to lead ACP discussions; Patient-family agenda-setting to align perspectives about the role of family and stimulate discussion about ACP; Facilitated registration to the patient portal (for patient and family) as desired; Education & resources about Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) for clinic staff.
Interprofessional Dementia Care
DementiaNurse's Role1 moreCurrently, around 1.7 million people with dementia live in Germany. The number of new cases per year is estimated to be around 244,000. At this time, no curative treatment for dementia exists. The progression of the disease results in high needs for care. Only a minority among People with Dementia (PwD) receive needs-based treatment and directive-compliant care. Previous studies found that more than 95% of PwD have an open need for care. The increase in chronically and multimorbid impaired patients leads to an increased number of patients in primary care. Particularly in rural regions, innovative care concepts based on a redistribution of tasks between specialized nurses and doctors could help to guarantee high-value care at all times. Nursing care can be expanded with regards to tasks and competencies, which is thought to increase the attractiveness of the nursing profession. Unfortunately, there are currently no scientific studies on the effectiveness and impact of such care concepts in Germany. The Aim of this study is to implement a structured care concept for the reallocation of tasks between general practitioners (GPs) and nurses and to evaluate its effectiveness on the living and care situation of people with dementia living at home. "InDePendent" is a multicenter, cluster-randomized, controlled intervention study with a waiting-control group. Randomization is carried out at the level of the participating GPs in a ratio of 1:2 (intervention group : waiting-control group).