"Safety in Dementia": An Online Caregiver Intervention

May 13, 2026 updated by: University of Colorado, Denver
In an online randomized trial of Safety in Dementia with national recruitment and longitudinal follow-up, we will recruit informal caregivers of community-dwelling adults with dementia who have firearm access.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Aim 1: To test the efficacy of Safety in Dementia (SiD) on firearm safety decision quality and behaviors, among a national sample of informal caregivers of community-dwelling people with dementia and firearm access (n=500).

Aim 2: To compare varied methods in reaching informal caregivers. Aim 3: To explore stakeholder longitudinal experiences with SiD and firearm-related decisions.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

500

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
    • Colorado
      • Aurora, Colorado, United States, 80045
        • University of Colorado Anschutz

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

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Live in United States
  • Speak English or Spanish
  • Informal caregiver for community swelling person with dementia and firearm access
  • Access to the internet

Exclusion Criteria:

  • In legal custody or institutionalized

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: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Safety in Dementia
Safety in Dementia is an online tool that, in a stepwise fashion, guides a caregiver individual through decisions related to firearm access for a person with dementia. It includes information and a comparison of the options and their risks and benefits. It guides the caregiver through clarification of personal feelings and values and identifying their decision/plan.
Behavioral: Safety in Dementia
Safety in Dementia is an online tool that, in a stepwise fashion, guides a caregiver individual through decisions related to firearm access for a person with dementia. It includes information and a comparison of the options and their risks and benefits. It guides the caregiver through clarification of personal feelings and values and identifying their decision/plan. The control group will view national Institute on Aging Home Safety Checklist.
Active Comparator: Web control
The control group will view National Institute on Aging Home Safety Checklist.
Behavioral: Safety in Dementia
Safety in Dementia is an online tool that, in a stepwise fashion, guides a caregiver individual through decisions related to firearm access for a person with dementia. It includes information and a comparison of the options and their risks and benefits. It guides the caregiver through clarification of personal feelings and values and identifying their decision/plan. The control group will view national Institute on Aging Home Safety Checklist.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Preparation for Decision Making
Time Frame: During baseline assessment (specifically, after receiving randomization allocation), 2 weeks, 2 months, 6 months

The Preparation for Decision Making Scale assesses perception of how useful a decision aid is in preparing for subsequent decision-making. Scores range from 1-5, calculated from the sum of 10 constructs (each ranging from 1, 'not at all' to 5, 'a great deal'). The total score is calculated by first summing the 10 items and dividing by 10 to find an average item response score. Then, we subtract 1 from the summed score and multiply this by 25 to convert the final score to a 0-100 scale with higher scores indicating higher perceived levels of preparation for decision making (higher = better).

The scale has high test reliability (0.944) and discriminates significantly between different decision support interventions.
During baseline assessment (specifically, after receiving randomization allocation), 2 weeks, 2 months, 6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Decision Self-Efficacy
Time Frame: baseline/pre-intervention, 2 weeks, 2 months, 6 months
The Decision Self-Efficacy Scale measures confidence in ability to make decisions; transformed scores range from 0 (extremely low, worst outcome) to 100 (extremely high self-efficacy, best outcome).
baseline/pre-intervention, 2 weeks, 2 months, 6 months
Number of People With Dementia Who Retained Firearm Access
Time Frame: 2 weeks, 2 months, 6 months
Firearm access for the person with ADRD will be assessed with scales we have used in prior work, allowing nuanced (but efficient) description of firearm access (on a scale ranging from access to multiple loaded firearms to no access to any firearms). For reporting and analysis, we will use binary categorization (caregiver reports that person with dementia still has access to 1+ firearm [1] versus person with dementia no longer has access to any firearms [0])
2 weeks, 2 months, 6 months
Number of Participants Who Took Action to Reduce Firearm Access for Person With Dementia
Time Frame: Baseline, 2 weeks, 2 months, 6 months
At each time point, participants self-reported if they have taken any steps to reduce firearm access for the person with dementia. Nine response options associated with this question are used to calculate this binary outcome (1+ actions taken versus no action taken). If they selected 'yes' to any of the following options, their outcome was '1+ action taken' (1); if they selected 'no' to all, their outcome was 'no action taken' (0). The nine response options were: (1) used a/more locking devices, (2) used a/more locking safes or gun lockboxes, (3) gave a/more guns to a trusted family member for temporary safekeeping, (4) gave a/more guns to a trusted friend for temporary safekeeping, (5) stored a/more guns at a store or range that has firearm storage, (6) stored a/more guns at a law enforcement agency temporarily, (7) gave a/multiple guns to law enforcement permanently, (8) sold, gave or transferred a/multiple guns to family or friends, and (9) sold a/multiple guns to the public.
Baseline, 2 weeks, 2 months, 6 months
Firearm Injury
Time Frame: baseline/pre-intervention, 2 weeks, 2 months, 6 months
We will assess injuries involving the person with ADRD and a firearm. Participants will be asked about any such incidents in the prior year (baseline) or since enrollment (follow-up) and a brief description.
baseline/pre-intervention, 2 weeks, 2 months, 6 months
Caregiver Burden
Time Frame: 2 weeks
The short-form Zarit Burden Interview has scores ranging from 0-48, calculated from 12 items (measured on a 5-point scale from 0, never to 4, nearly always); scores range from 0 to 12 with higher scores reflecting higher burden.
2 weeks
Positive Aspects of Caregiving
Time Frame: 2 weeks
The Positive Aspects of Caregiving Scale has scores ranging from 0-36, calculated from the sum of 9 items (measured on a 5-point scale ranging from 0, disagree a lot, to 4, agree a lot, on statements such as feel more useful), with higher scores indicating more positive caregiving experiences.
2 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Colorado, Denver

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 (Actual)

May 22, 2022

Primary Completion (Actual)

October 11, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

October 11, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 17, 2021

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 28, 2021

First Posted (Actual)

December 30, 2021

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 14, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 13, 2026

Last Verified

May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 21-4084

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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