Pilot Pragmatic Clinical Trial to Embed Tele-Savvy Into Health Care Systems

Study Results

Results available

Outcome measurements, participant flow, baseline characteristics, and adverse events have been published for this study.

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Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

74 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2021-09-28

Study Completion Date

2023-06-05

Brief Summary

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This cluster randomized pragmatic clinical trial will test the effectiveness and feasibility of embedding the Tele-Savvy intervention, a psychoeducational program for family and other informal caregivers of older adults living in the community with Alzheimer's disease and related dementia (ADRD), in two health care systems/clinical sites: UConn Health in Farmington, Connecticut, and Emory Healthcare in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Detailed Description

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This cluster randomized pragmatic clinical trial will test the effectiveness and feasibility of embedding the Tele-Savvy intervention, a psychoeducational program for family and other informal caregivers of older adults living in the community with Alzheimer's disease and related dementia (ADRD), in two health care systems/clinical sites: UConn Health in Farmington, Connecticut, and Emory Healthcare in Atlanta, Georgia. A total of 100 caregivers, 50 at each study site, will participate in this pilot study. At each site, 30 caregivers will be randomly assigned to receive the Tele-Savvy intervention, and 20 caregivers will be randomly assigned to receive the self-guided Caregiving During Crisis online program.

All 100 caregivers will complete identical self-administered questionnaires to measure the caregiver-specific outcome measures in this pilot study. Outcome measures will include caregiver mastery (primary outcome), caregiver response to specific memory and behavioral problems, and caregiver stress. Also, we will employ process measures of participation and engagement in the interventions for caregivers in both arms of the trial, as well as implementation outcomes via surveys with clinicians and Information Technology staff at each of the two clinical sites responsible for programming electronic medical records to enable capture and storage of caregiver outcomes.

Conditions

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Alzheimer Disease Dementia Brain Diseases Central Nervous System Diseases Nervous System Diseases Tauopathies Neurocognitive Disorders Neurodegenerative Diseases Mental Disorders

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Three Tele-Savvy programs, with 10 caregivers in each Tele-Savvy program cohort, will be held sequentially at each health care system site, for a total of 60 caregivers in 6 Tele-Savvy cohorts. Recruitment will occur in three waves, whereby caregivers will be randomly assigned at a 3:2 ratio to either Tele-Savvy or the attention control group until the first Tele-Savvy cohort is filled (first wave), followed by the same randomization procedure until the second and third Tele-Savvy cohorts are filled.

Primary Study Purpose

OTHER

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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Tele-Savvy Group

The participants will be enrolled into the Tele-Savvy group. Software analytics monitor caregivers' use of asynchronous material each week.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Tele-Savvy

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

A low-risk, psychoeducational, group-based intervention, is grounded in social learning and stress process theory and its main goal is to produce improved caregiver mastery over the symptom management skills commonly encountered when supervising and caring at home for an older adult living with ADRD. Over the 7-week program, there are synchronous and asynchronous activities each week. The synchronous portion includes weekly scheduled videoconferences (60-80 min) that serve as an online classroom in which facilitators lead lectures and discussions. Daily, caregivers access online 6- to 15-min prerecorded videos, each focused on one main learning objective. Caregivers can watch the lessons whenever and as often as they wish.

Attention Control Group

The participants will be enrolled in the Caregiving During Crisis program. Software analytics monitor caregivers' use of asynchronous material each week.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Caregiving During Crisis (Educational Program)

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

The attention control group will receive the self-guided Caregiving During Crisis program. Caregiving During Crisis is a fully online, asynchronous, professionally designed continuing education course aimed at developing the competency of informal caregivers of community-dwelling persons living with dementia to ensure the safety of that person and themselves during this time of the COVID-19 pandemic. The course, readily accessible by home computer or smartphone, describes methods of home infection control and prevention to create a Safe Home space, strategies for safely leaving and re-entering the home (e.g., to shop), additional strategies for safely allowing service personnel (e.g., home health aides or electricians) and select family members to enter the Safe Home space, and risk management strategies to frame decisions when/if COVID restrictions are relaxed or revoked.

Interventions

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Tele-Savvy

A low-risk, psychoeducational, group-based intervention, is grounded in social learning and stress process theory and its main goal is to produce improved caregiver mastery over the symptom management skills commonly encountered when supervising and caring at home for an older adult living with ADRD. Over the 7-week program, there are synchronous and asynchronous activities each week. The synchronous portion includes weekly scheduled videoconferences (60-80 min) that serve as an online classroom in which facilitators lead lectures and discussions. Daily, caregivers access online 6- to 15-min prerecorded videos, each focused on one main learning objective. Caregivers can watch the lessons whenever and as often as they wish.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Caregiving During Crisis (Educational Program)

The attention control group will receive the self-guided Caregiving During Crisis program. Caregiving During Crisis is a fully online, asynchronous, professionally designed continuing education course aimed at developing the competency of informal caregivers of community-dwelling persons living with dementia to ensure the safety of that person and themselves during this time of the COVID-19 pandemic. The course, readily accessible by home computer or smartphone, describes methods of home infection control and prevention to create a Safe Home space, strategies for safely leaving and re-entering the home (e.g., to shop), additional strategies for safely allowing service personnel (e.g., home health aides or electricians) and select family members to enter the Safe Home space, and risk management strategies to frame decisions when/if COVID restrictions are relaxed or revoked.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Identified by EHR systems and confirmed by a health care provider as a family member or unpaid significant other who provides care at home for an older adult (age 65 or older) living with ADRD
* English speaking
* Able to understand study procedures and comply with them for the entire length of the study
* Access to appropriate video and audio technology to be able to participate in interventions

Exclusion Criteria

* Unwilling to be randomized to receive either Tele-Savvy or Caregiving During Crisis
* Planning to admit the person living with ADRD to a nursing home on a long-term basis within 6 months of randomization.

Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

110 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes