Application of the Family-Centered Empowerment Model in an Intervention to Reduce Burden Among Primary Caregivers of Patients With Hip Fracture

November 10, 2026 updated by: The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine

Caring for a family member after a hip fracture can place physical, emotional, social, and financial demands on the main caregiver. This study evaluates whether a support program based on the Family-Centered Empowerment Model can reduce caregiver burden compared with usual care. The program helps caregivers understand care needs, develop practical skills, build confidence, and involve other family members in caregiving.

The study plans to include 80 adult family caregivers of patients with hip fracture at one hospital in China, with 40 caregivers in each group. Group assignment depends on the enrollment period rather than chance. Caregivers enrolled during the earlier period receive usual orthopedic care guidance and follow-up. Those enrolled during the later period receive the same usual care plus the empowerment program, including education, practical skills training, family discussions, and support after discharge.

Caregivers complete questionnaires near the patient's hospital admission, at discharge, and at 1 and 3 months after discharge. The main outcome is caregiver burden, meaning the strain and difficulties associated with providing care. Other outcomes include confidence in managing challenges, self-esteem, and caregiving-related quality of life. Patient complications and hospital readmissions are also recorded. The study will assess whether adding the empowerment program improves these outcomes.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Not yet 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

Caring for a family member after a hip fracture can place physical, emotional, social, and financial demands on the main caregiver. This study evaluates whether a support program based on the Family-Centered Empowerment Model can reduce caregiver burden compared with usual care. The program helps caregivers understand care needs, develop practical skills, build confidence, and involve other family members in caregiving.

The study plans to include 80 adult family caregivers of patients with hip fracture at one hospital in China, with 40 caregivers in each group. Group assignment depends on the enrollment period rather than chance. Caregivers enrolled during the earlier period receive usual orthopedic care guidance and follow-up. Those enrolled during the later period receive the same usual care plus the empowerment program, including education, practical skills training, family discussions, and support after discharge.

Caregivers complete questionnaires near the patient's hospital admission, at discharge, and at 1 and 3 months after discharge. The main outcome is caregiver burden, meaning the strain and difficulties associated with providing care. Other outcomes include confidence in managing challenges, self-esteem, and caregiving-related quality of life. Patient complications and hospital readmissions are also recorded. The study will assess whether adding the empowerment program improves these outcomes.

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 (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.
80

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.

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

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Inclusion Criteria:
  • A family member serving as the primary caregiver of a patient with hip fracture aged 18 years or older.
  • Has provided care for at least 3 months and provides care for at least 8 hours per day.
  • Receives no remuneration for caregiving.
  • Able to read and communicate.
  • Willing to participate in the study and provide informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • A history of psychiatric illness.
  • Clinically diagnosed visual or hearing impairment that cannot be corrected with glasses, hearing aids, or other usual assistive devices and prevents the caregiver from reading study materials, participating in group discussions, or receiving study instructions. Age-related presbyopia or mild hearing loss that can be adequately corrected with assistive devices does not constitute an exclusion criterion.

Exclusion Criteria:

-

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: Supportive Care
  • 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.
Active Comparator: Usual Orthopedic Care

Primary family caregivers of patients with hip fracture receive usual orthopedic care guidance and routine follow-up. This includes education on hip fracture and rehabilitation during hospital days 1-2, guidance on home caregiving before discharge, and weekly telephone or WeChat follow-up after discharge. Follow-up continues through 3 months after discharge.
Behavioral: Usual Orthopedic Care Guidance and Follow-up

Usual orthopedic care guidance and follow-up are provided to primary family caregivers of patients with hip fracture from the patient's hospital admission through 3 months after discharge. The intervention includes education on hip fracture and basic rehabilitation during the first 1-2 days of hospitalization, guidance on home caregiving before discharge, and routine telephone or WeChat follow-up once weekly after discharge. Both the control and experimental groups receive this intervention.
Experimental: Usual Care Plus Family-Centered Empowerment Model Intervention

Primary family caregivers receive usual orthopedic care guidance and follow-up plus a structured Family-Centered Empowerment Model intervention from admission through 3 months after discharge. The program includes: (1) within 24 hours of admission, a caregiving manual and a group discussion addressing perceived threat (about 30 minutes); (2) during hospital days 1-7, two individual hands-on caregiving skills and scenario-based simulation sessions to strengthen self-efficacy (about 40 minutes each); (3) from day 8 to discharge, two sessions involving family participation in care planning and sharing caregiving experiences to support self-esteem (about 30 minutes each); and (4) after discharge, five targeted follow-up contacts and two online caregiving experience-sharing sessions for process and outcome evaluation.
Behavioral: Usual Orthopedic Care Guidance and Follow-up

Usual orthopedic care guidance and follow-up are provided to primary family caregivers of patients with hip fracture from the patient's hospital admission through 3 months after discharge. The intervention includes education on hip fracture and basic rehabilitation during the first 1-2 days of hospitalization, guidance on home caregiving before discharge, and routine telephone or WeChat follow-up once weekly after discharge. Both the control and experimental groups receive this intervention.

Behavioral: Family-Centered Empowerment Model-Based Caregiver Intervention

Primary family caregivers of patients with hip fracture receive a four-stage Family-Centered Empowerment Model program in addition to usual care, from the patient's admission through 3 months after discharge: (1) perceived threat: a standardized caregiving manual and group discussion within 24 hours of admission (about 30 minutes); (2) self-efficacy: two individual hands-on caregiving skills and scenario-based simulation sessions during hospital days 1-7 (about 40 minutes each); (3) self-esteem: two sessions involving family participation in care planning and sharing caregiving experiences from day 8 to discharge (about 30 minutes each); and (4) process and outcome evaluation: five targeted follow-up contacts and two online caregiving experience-sharing sessions after discharge through 3 months. This program is provided only to the experimental group.

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
Caregiver Burden Measured by the Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI)
Time Frame: aseline, Periprocedural, 1 month, 3 months

Caregiver burden is assessed using the 22-item Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI). Each item is scored from 0 to 4, and item scores are summed to produce a total score ranging from 0 to 88. Higher scores indicate greater caregiver burden. Total scores are assessed at baseline, hospital discharge, and 1 and 3 months after discharge.
aseline, Periprocedural, 1 month, 3 months

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.
The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine

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 (Estimated)

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 5, 2026

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.
May 5, 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.
May 5, 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 1, 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 10, 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 13, 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 13, 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 10, 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.
  • KY-2026-113

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

De-identified individual participant data underlying the published study results, together with a data dictionary, will be made available to qualified researchers upon reasonable request. Data access will require a written research proposal describing the intended analyses, review by the study team, and compliance with applicable institutional and ethics requirements. Any additional participant consent required for the proposed use will be obtained before sharing. Names, contact details, and other direct identifiers will not be shared.

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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