An Intervention to Improve the Experience of Patients in Intermediate and Long-term Care Units

November 3, 2026 updated by: Consorci Sanitari de l'Alt Penedès i Garraf

Study on the Impact of an Intervention to Improve the Experience of Patients Admitted to Intermediate and Long-term Care Units

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if an intervention that detects and addresses the problems perceived by patients during their hospital stay can improve trust in the hospital among older patients admitted to intermediate and long-term care units. The main questions it aims to answer are:

  • Does the intervention increase patients' trust in the hospital, measured as their likelihood of recommending it?
  • Does the intervention reduce formal complaints, improve patients' emotional well-being, and improve the job satisfaction of nursing staff? Researchers will compare patients admitted before the intervention was introduced with patients admitted one year after it was introduced to see if trust in the hospital improves.

Participants will:

  • Complete, after one month of admission, the hospital's satisfaction questionnaire (which includes the trust question) and a short emotional well-being questionnaire, either themselves or through a relative or caregiver
  • In the post-intervention period, be interviewed between days 10 and 15 of admission about the negative aspects of their stay; the results are discussed at multidisciplinary team meetings, where corrective actions are agreed Nursing staff and nursing assistants on the participating wards will complete a job satisfaction questionnaire before and after the intervention.

Study Overview

Status

Status

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

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

This is a quasi-experimental before-and-after study. The primary outcome will be collected cross-sectionally from all eligible patients admitted at a given time before the intervention is implemented, and again from eligible patients admitted one year after implementation. Formal complaints will be collected retrospectively for the year before the intervention and for the intervention year. Patient questionnaires will be completed on paper without personal information and returned in a sealed envelope identified only by a participant code; the envelopes will be opened by independent research staff, and analysts will be blinded to the study period.

The primary analysis will compare the primary outcome between the pre- and post-intervention groups using a superiority approach, with parametric or non-parametric tests as appropriate and multivariable adjustment for potential confounders that differ between periods. Subgroup analyses by type of ward (conventional vs psychogeriatric) are planned. With 93 patients per group, the study has more than 80% power (two-sided alpha 0.05) to detect an increase in the proportion of patients with trust in the institution (score above 7) from 30% to 50%.

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.
Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

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.
186

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

  • Spain
    • Barcelona
      • Vilanova i la Geltrú, Barcelona, Spain
        • Recruiting
        • Hospital Sant Antoni Abat-Consorci Sanitari Alt Penedès-Garraf
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Helena Camell

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

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Patients admitted to intermediate and long-term care units

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Admitted to an intermediate or long-term care unit of Hospital Sant Antoni Abat
  • Length of stay of at least 1 month
  • Patient and/or caregiver able to take part in the study assessments
  • Signed informed consent, given by the patient or by the patient's legal representative

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Cognitive or affective disorder that limits the ability to answer the study questionnaires, with no reference person available to answer on the patient's behalf
  • Participation in another study involving an experimental intervention during the period of this study and/or with a visit schedule incompatible with this study

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

  • Observational Models: OTHER
  • Time Perspectives: PROSPECTIVE

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Group / Cohort

A group or subgroup of participants in an observational study that is assessed for biomedical or health outcomes.
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.
Pre-intervention

Patients admitted to intermediate and long-term care units before the intervention is implemented, receiving usual care
Post-intervention

Patients admitted to the same units one year after the intervention is implemented
Other: Patient experience intervention (problem-detection interview and multidisciplinary action plan)

Between days 10 and 15 of admission, patients (or their relatives or caregivers) are interviewed following a structured script about the negative aspects they perceive in their hospital stay, including quality of care, comfort, medical information, and assistance with daily activities. Responses are classified using the Net Promoter Score framework. The results are presented at the periodic multidisciplinary team meetings, where a personalized action plan is agreed, documented in the clinical record with assigned responsibilities and deadlines, and reassessed at approximately 30 days.

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
Trust in the institution
Time Frame: After 1 month of admission, in the pre-intervention group and in the post-intervention group

Score on the question "If needed, would you recommend Hospital Sant Antoni Abat?" from the hospital's inpatient satisfaction questionnaire, rated from 0 (would never recommend) to 10 (would actively recommend). Higher scores indicate greater trust. A score above 7 is considered to indicate trust in the institution.
After 1 month of admission, in the pre-intervention group and in the post-intervention group

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.
Consorci Sanitari de l'Alt Penedès i Garraf

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.
November 21, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

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.
December 31, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

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.
December 31, 2027

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).
November 3, 2026

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.
November 3, 2026

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.
November 9, 2026

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 9, 2026

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, 2026

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, 2026

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.
  • CSAPG-83

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

IPD (without personal identification data) could be shared by requirement from other researchers after the end of the study, and only for research purposes and previous approval of promotor center of the study (CSAPG). Anyway, Spanish and European Union legal policy about data protection will strictly be followed (IPD will not be transferred outside European Union).

IPD Sharing Time Frame

After publication of main results of the study

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

IPD will be shared only for scientific research purposes and following the Spanish and European Union normative law about data protection. The requirements will be directed to the IP of the study. The IP will evaluate the request to verify and evaluate the data that is requested and the purposes for which it is requested. Next, the IP will transfer the request to the promotor center the study for the final decision.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL

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.

Cookie Settings

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. For more details carefully read our Privacy and Cookies Policy. ...>>>You can change your preferences or withdraw your consent at any time by deleting the cookies from your website or computer as described in the policy. Please accept it and choose your preferences by ticking the corresponding boxes in the "Manage Settings" section below. Please carefully read our Terms of Service before you proceed with using any part of this website.
«Manage Settings