Translating Data Science to Palliative Care

November 3, 2025 updated by: Elizabeth A. Luth, PhD, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Translating Data Science to Palliative Care Practice for Persons Living With Dementia

This research study is intended to 1) better understand seriously ill adults' and their family care partners' (FCP), particularly for persons living with dementia (PLwD), barriers to accepting community-based palliative care (CBPC); 2) develop an intervention to address barriers; and 3) pilot test whether the intervention has an impact on CBPC uptake. The intervention will consist of 1) a set of informational material describing the benefits of CBPC for the CBPC team to use when presenting CBPC to members of a Medicare Advantage plan and their FCP; and 2) processes for tailoring information delivery so that eligible members and their FCP receive information about CBPC that reflects their individualized risk as identified by the Medicare Advantage program's validated 12-month mortality risk algorithm.

The clinical trial portion of the study refers to the pilot test (Aim 3 as described below).

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Aim 1. Engage Family Care Partners (FCPs) and Community Based Palliative Care (CBPC) team members to identify barriers to CBPC. Aim 1 will incorporate the perspectives of CBPC team members and Medicare Advantage (MA) plan members and FCPs of person living with dementia (PLwD) and those with other diagnoses who refused CBPC services. Aim 2. Develop and obtain feedback on a) informational materials for CBPC team members to use when speaking with MA members and FCPs about CBPC and b) processes for tailoring information delivery based on a members's algorithm-identified risk profile. Most participants will be recruited from Aim 1 participants. Additional participants will be recruited as necessary. Aim 3. Conduct a pre-post trial to determine the feasibility and acceptability of the materials and using them in existing clinical workflows for their a) impact on CBPC enrollment for CBPC-eligible individuals, including PLwD, and b) end-user satisfaction.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
301

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • New York
      • New York, New York, United States, 10017
        • VNS Health

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • VNS Health Total Medicare Advantage Plan member
  • identified as eligible for community-based palliative care by the VNS Health Total palliative care team during the study period (6-month period prior to introduction of the intervention and the 6-month period following the intervention)
  • 18 years of age or older

Exclusion Criteria:

  • non-VNS Health Total Medicare Advantage Plan member
  • VNS Health Total plan members not identified as eligible for community-based palliative care by the palliative care team during the study period (6-month period prior to introduction of the intervention and the 6-month period following the intervention)
  • under 18 years of age

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Intervention Group
Intervention group will consist of all MA plan members eligible for community-based palliative care and of those who refused it (to calculate refusal rate) during the six month period following the introduction of tailored informational materials developed on CBPC
Other: Tailored Palliative Care Information
This study test feasibility and acceptability of implementing tailored informational materials into clinician's discussions about CBPC with MA plan members who are eligible for the service.
No Intervention: Control Group
Control group will be a retrospective review of individuals who were eligible for community-based palliative care and of those who refused it, for the 6-month period prior to introducing the tailored informational materials. All of these individuals will have received usual care/information regarding community-based palliative care.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Palliative Care Refusal Rate
Time Frame: Baseline through 10 months. Pre (control group) test for 5 months prior to intervention. Post (intervention group) for 5 months during intervention.
The investigators will assess refusal rate using the MA plan's electronic health records. Refusal rate will be calculated as # of eligible individuals refusing palliative care / total # of individuals eligible for palliative care
Baseline through 10 months. Pre (control group) test for 5 months prior to intervention. Post (intervention group) for 5 months during intervention.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
CBPC Team Members Satisfaction
Time Frame: Baseline, 2.5 and 5 months into intervention delivery.
Investigators will assess intervention feasibility and acceptability using the end-user satisfaction survey. End-User Satisfaction ratings for each concept are scored as 1 (almost never); 2 (some of the time); 3 (about half the time); 4 (most of the time); 5 (almost always). Minimum score is 12; maximum 60, with higher scores indicating greater satisfaction.
Baseline, 2.5 and 5 months into intervention delivery.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
National Institute on Aging (NIA)

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Elizabeth Luth, PhD, Rutgers University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
February 15, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
September 30, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
September 30, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
June 22, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 3, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
July 12, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
November 18, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
November 3, 2025

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • Pro2023000794
  • P30AG064105 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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