Northern Manhattan Caregiver Intervention Project

Summary

Elderly Hispanics have a higher burden of dementia compared to Non-Hispanic Whites. Furthermore, Hispanic caregivers tend to have a higher burden of care for their relatives with dementia. The objective of this project is to conduct a randomized trial in 160 Hispanic relative caregivers of persons with dementia comparing the effectiveness of New York University Caregiver Intervention to a case management intervention lead by community health workers(CHW). This trial will last 6 months. The main outcomes in the trial will be changes in depressive symptoms measured with the Geriatric Depression Scale and caregiver burden measured with the Zarit Caregiver Burden Scale. This research project will be conducted by the Northern Manhattan Center of Excellence in Comparative Effectiveness Research for Eliminating Disparities (NOCERED) funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.

Conditions

• Dementia

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

New York University Caregiver Intervention (NYUCI)

The NYU Caregiver Intervention (NYUCI) has substantial evidence of efficacy. This intervention is unique in its emphasis on family support and in providing ongoing availability of the counselor. While the NYUCI is being implemented in several communities, its effectiveness in the Hispanic community of Northern Manhattan has not been tested. The first component of the intervention consists of two individual and four family counseling sessions that include relatives suggested by the caregiver. The second component of the intervention is participation in a support group to provide the caregiver with continuous emotional support and education. The third component of the treatment is "ad hoc" counseling the continuous availability of counselors to caregivers and families to help them deal with crises and with the changing nature and severity of their relatives' symptoms over the course of the disease.

OTHER

Community Health Worker (CHW) Case Management

The CHW intervention will consist of 2 visits in month 1, followed by monthly visits until month 6. The main role of the CHW will be to provide access to existing education and referral resources about dementia and caregiving. The CHW will carry a blackberry or iPhone type device with real time access to email, text, the internet, and telephone. Thus, the CHW will be able to provide participants with real time information from pertinent websites such as CUMC, Alianza, and the NY chapter of the Alzheimer's Association. CHW will also provide participants with their phone number and email address for ad-hoc contacts.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)

  collaborator NIH

• Columbia University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Jose Luchsinger, MD, MPH · Columbia University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2011-03-31

Primary Completion

2013-08-31

Completion

2013-08-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations