E-training of Inmate Peer Caregivers for Enhancing Geriatric and End-of-life Care in Prisons

NCT ID: NCT05017129

Last Updated: 2025-07-22

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 53 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2020-06-15
• Study Completion Date: 2024-12-31

Brief Summary

The demographics of the U.S. prison population are shifting at a dramatic rate requiring new approaches to prison healthcare. Current estimates suggest that there are 2.3 million incarcerated persons in the U.S. Similar to the free world, the aging of the Baby Boom generation is occurring in prisons. Notably, inmates 50 and older constitute over 20% of prisoners in state or federal facilities. From 1996-2016, there was an 280% growth in the number of state and federal prisoners age 55 or older, which is in sharp contrast to younger inmates that grew by only 3% during this time period. A surge in older adult offenders in the U.S. has not occurred but rather statutes now impose stiffer sentences, resulting in longer periods of incarceration, such as life without parole or 20+ years. At the same time, early release policies remain restrictive. As a result, sentenced offenders are living through middle and older adulthood within the confines of prisons.

Detailed Description

There are over 1,719 United States (US) state and federal prisons with over 2.3 million prisoners. In 2017, more than 20% of sentenced prisoners were age 50 or older. The health status of older inmates is often parallel with free-living people who are far older (e.g., 10-15 years). Older prisoners disproportionately contribute to the steeply rising correctional healthcare costs and their death rate is 10 times that of younger prisoners. Corrections budgets are stretched as they strive to meet the care needs of aged and dying prisoners. Carefully selected and vetted inmates offer an abundant human resource that is poised to contribute in important ways to augment prison staff in meeting growing care needs of older and dying inmates. However, the lack of standardized, evidence-based, training that is geared toward this target audience is a current barrier to ensuring high quality inmate caregiving. In response to this need, our Phase I project E-training of Inmate Peer Caregivers for Enhancing Geriatric and End-of-Life Care in Prisons demonstrated that inmate access to technology is growing and inmates can be successful e-learners. Specifically, we learned: (1) there is a need and interest for products such as our Inmates Care computer-based learning (CBL); (2) trainings should be engaging, interactive, and contextually sensitive to the specific environment, target user, and security constraints, while at the same time being mindful of emerging trends in regard to technology use by inmates (e.g., availability of tablets for purchase and use in many states); and finally, (3) that interactive, media-rich prototype modules with high acceptability and usability could be developed. The specifications document and commercialization plan indicated it is possible to develop a full-scale Inmates Care learning system in Phase II and a Technology Niche Analyses® revealed market potential exists. The purpose of this Phase II application is to continue research and development of the Inmates Care learning system with an emphasis on developing a scalable unit for commercialization and testing scale-up in a larger number of more diverse state prisons. More specifically, the aims of this Phase II study are to: 1) Develop a full scale media-rich interactive computer-based learning system Inmates Care, that consists of six modules aimed at augmenting the highly variable face-to-face inmate caregiving programs in state prisons with standardized, evidence-based training to prepare inmates in assisting with end-of-life (EOL) and geriatric care; and one Training Overview and Rollout module that prepares staff to use Inmates Care as a tool for inmate peer caregiver training; 2) Conduct in-person usability testing of the full-scale Inmates Care program in two rounds in state prisons to evaluate logistics, inmate and staff impressions, user interface, ease of use, and perceived barriers in order to optimize the scalable unit for broader dissemination (n=30); and 3) Test scale-up of the full-scale Inmates Care program in state prisons across the nation to evaluate knowledge acquisition outcomes, usage patterns, and commercialization opportunities (n=288).

Conditions

Aging

Study Design

• Allocation Method: NA
• Intervention Model: SINGLE_GROUP
• Primary Study Purpose: HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Inmates Care modules

This is a within-subjects, pre-post design with a single intervention. The intervention is a 6 module computer-based learning program for training peer caregivers in end-of-life care.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Inmates Care

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

The single intervention is a computer-based learning program.

Interventions

Inmates Care

The single intervention is a computer-based learning program.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

Inmate Peer Caregivers:

1. providing geriatric and/or EOL care at participating state prison (Aims 1 and 2 only);

2. age >18;

3. able to speak and understand English; and

4. able to consent.

1. age >18;

2. able to speak and understand English;

3. able to consent; and

4. have been exposed to inmate peer caregiving (e.g., through training them, oversight of a peer caregiving program, or working with inmate peer caregivers in the infirmary, personal care, or hospice area of prisons)

Exclusion Criteria

1. Under the age of 18

2. Unable to speak and understand English

Prison Staff:

1. Under the age of 18

2. Unable to speak and understand English

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

Penn State University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

National Institute on Aging (NIA)

NIH

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Klein Buendel, Inc.

INDUSTRY

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Barbara Walkosz, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Klein Buendel, Inc.

Locations

Klein Buendel, Inc.

Golden, Colorado, United States

Pennsylvania State University

University Park, Pennsylvania, United States

Countries

United States

Provided Documents

Document Type: Study Protocol and Statistical Analysis Plan

View Document

Document Type: Informed Consent Form

View Document

Other Identifiers

5R44AG057239-03

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: secondary_id

View Link

0327

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id