Encourage Older Adults to Designate a Health Care Proxy

NCT ID: NCT07290478

Last Updated: 2025-12-18

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

NOT_YET_RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

10000 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2026-01-01

Study Completion Date

2027-01-31

Brief Summary

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This study is a Stage III randomized trial to encourage patients in advance of a health care appointment to designate a healthcare proxy. Patients will be randomly assigned to receive a mailer containing information about designating a healthcare proxy, or to not receive any mailer. For patients assigned to receive a mailer, the mailer will differ by the presence or absence of a patient pre-commitment prompt, and contain a personalized provider request or a generic health system request. The work will evaluate the randomized trial and identify factors that predict intervention effectiveness.

Detailed Description

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Conditions

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Designating a Healthcare Proxy

Keywords

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healthcare proxy advance care planning end-of-life care surrogate decision-maker durable power of attorney behavioral economics pre-commitment

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

FACTORIAL

2 x 2 factorial + a no intervention control group
Primary Study Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Hospital staff, including clinicians, will not be alerted to the patient's assigned intervention. However, clinicians may learn of the patient's assigned intervention if the patient brings their mailer to the visit.

Study Groups

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Personalized Provider Mailer with a Pre-commitment Prompt

Patients will receive a mailer containing a pre-commitment prompt to bring in a form listing their healthcare proxy to their next primary care visit. The mailer will be sent from and signed by their primary care provider.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Mailer

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Patient mailers will ask the patient to name a healthcare proxy at their next primary care visit.

Personalized Provider Request

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Patient mailers will be sent from and signed by the patient's provider for their next scheduled primary care visit.

Pre-commitment Prompt

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Patient mailers will contain a box that asks the patient to bring a form with their choice for a healthcare proxy to their next primary care visit.

Generic Health System Mailer with a Pre-commitment Prompt

Patients will receive a mailer containing a pre-commitment prompt to bring in a form listing their healthcare proxy to their next primary care visit. The mailer will be sent from and signed by the health system

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Mailer

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Patient mailers will ask the patient to name a healthcare proxy at their next primary care visit.

Pre-commitment Prompt

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Patient mailers will contain a box that asks the patient to bring a form with their choice for a healthcare proxy to their next primary care visit.

Personalized Provider Mailer without a Pre-commitment Prompt

Patients will receive a mailer, but it will not contain a pre-commitment prompt to bring in a form listing their healthcare proxy to their next primary care visit. The mailer will be sent from and signed by the patient's provider.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Mailer

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Patient mailers will ask the patient to name a healthcare proxy at their next primary care visit.

Personalized Provider Request

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Patient mailers will be sent from and signed by the patient's provider for their next scheduled primary care visit.

Generic Health System Mailer without a Pre-commitment Prompt

Patients will receive a mailer, but it will not contain a pre-commitment prompt to bring in a form listing their healthcare proxy to their next primary care visit. The mailer will be sent from and signed by the health system.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Mailer

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Patient mailers will ask the patient to name a healthcare proxy at their next primary care visit.

No Mailer Control

Patients will not receive a mailer.

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

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Mailer

Patient mailers will ask the patient to name a healthcare proxy at their next primary care visit.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Personalized Provider Request

Patient mailers will be sent from and signed by the patient's provider for their next scheduled primary care visit.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Pre-commitment Prompt

Patient mailers will contain a box that asks the patient to bring a form with their choice for a healthcare proxy to their next primary care visit.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* No EHR-documented healthcare proxy at enrollment
* Age ≥ 55 years OR age ≥ 18 years and listed in the health system's cancer, CHF, or CKD registries

Exclusion Criteria

* None
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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National Institute on Aging (NIA)

NIH

Sponsor Role collaborator

Contra Costa Health

UNKNOWN

Sponsor Role collaborator

University of Southern California

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Mireille Jacobson

Professor

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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Mireille Jacobson, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Southern California

Central Contacts

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Mireille Jacobson, PhD

Role: CONTACT

Phone: 213-821-8296

Email: [email protected]

Tara K Knight, PhD

Role: CONTACT

Email: [email protected]

Other Identifiers

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P30AG024968

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: secondary_id

View Link

UP-23-01203

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id