An Innovative Caregiver Tool to Assess and Manage Behavioral Symptoms of Dementia

December 15, 2016 updated by: Helen Kales, University of Michigan
Behavioral symptoms that commonly occur with dementia are associated with increased health care utilization and can lead to challenges for the person living with dementia and their caregivers. Caregivers need knowledge and skills to monitor these behaviors, to identify what triggers them, and to learn how to use proven, practical medication-free strategies to prevent and manage the behaviors. The purpose of this study is to develop and test the WeCareAdvisor, a customized, internet-based computer tool for family caregivers that helps them to assess, manage and track behavioral symptoms and their contributing factors (e.g., pain, sleep disturbance), and that provides tailored strategies for in-home, medication-free behavior management. This study is a collaboration between researchers at the University of Michigan and Johns Hopkins University.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

114

Phase

  • 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 Locations

  • United States
    • Maryland
      • Baltimore, Maryland, United States, 21205
        • Johns Hopkins School of Nursing
    • Michigan
      • Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States, 48109
        • University of Michigan Department of Psychiatry

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

Ages Eligible for Study

21 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

General

  • Age 21 years or older
  • Ability to read, speak and understand English
  • Home location within 50 miles of the study site Caregivers (CG)
  • Active primary caregiver of a Person with Dementia (PwD) for at least 6 months and planning to remain the primary caregiver for the next 2 months
  • Currently living with the PwD
  • CG plans to live in the area for the duration of the study
  • Is familiar and comfortable utilizing technology (e.g. computers, tablets, the internet)

Persons with Dementia (PwD)

  • CG reports that the PwD exhibits at least one or more behavioral symptoms (any behavior at any frequency)
  • PwD receiving psychotropic medication or cognitive enhancers will not be excluded.
  • If PwD is on any of four classes of psychotropic medications (antidepressant, benzodiazepines, antipsychotic, or anti-convulsant) or an anti-dementia medication (memantine or a cholinesterase inhibitor), we will require that he/she have been on a stable dose for 60 days prior to enrollment (typical time frame in clinical trials) to minimize possible confounding effects of concomitant medications.
  • Clinical diagnosis of dementia (any type) or a score of less than 24 on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE)

Exclusion Criteria:

General

  • Inability to read, speak or understand English
  • Home location greater than 50 miles from the study site
  • Lack of regular access to a telephone Caregivers (CG)
  • Reading literacy of less than 6th grade
  • Visual impairment to the extent of prohibiting interaction with the tool
  • Hearing impairment sufficient to prohibit telephone communication
  • Other self-identified mental or physical health issues that would distinctly interfere with the ability to reasonably test the tool or complete behavioral interventions (e.g. substance use disorder, schizophrenia, severe mobility issues)
  • Hospitalized more than 3 times in the past year
  • Participating in another study to help caregivers care for the person with dementia.

Persons with Dementia (PwD)

  • At a terminal phase of illness, unable to respond to the environment or with a life expectancy less than 6 months
  • Active suicide risk
  • Imminent placement to nursing home (within the next 60 days)
  • Hospitalized more than 3 times in the past year
  • Currently in another study testing a medication to control behavioral symptoms

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: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Immediately Receive Tool
Caregiver/Care Recipient Dyad will be randomly assigned to immediately receive the WeCareAdvisor Tool for 4 weeks.
Behavioral: Immediately Receive Tool
Active Comparator: One Month Delay
Caregiver/Care Recipient Dyad will be randomly assigned to a 4 week delay (usual care activities only) before receiving the WeCareAdvisor Tool for 4 weeks.
Behavioral: One Month Delay

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Effects of the WeCareAdvisor Tool on Caregiver Upset
Time Frame: 4 weeks
We will measure caregiver upset on a 5 point rating scale "not at all", "a little", "moderately", "very much" and "extremely"
4 weeks
Effect of the WeCareAdvisor Tool on Caregiver Confidence
Time Frame: 4 weeks
We will measure caregiver confidence on a 5 point rating scale "not at all", "a little", "moderately", "very much" and "extremely"
4 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Michigan

Collaborators

Johns Hopkins University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Helen Kales, MD, University of Michigan

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

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

May 1, 2015

Primary Completion (Actual)

October 1, 2016

Study Completion (Actual)

October 1, 2016

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 14, 2015

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 14, 2015

First Posted (Estimate)

April 20, 2015

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

December 19, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 15, 2016

Last Verified

December 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • HUM00066639

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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