Building a Bridge (BAB) Between Clinical and Community Care

Summary

Dementia diagnosis triggers a transitional phase for the individuals and their families, often causing emotional distress and family conflicts due to the ambiguity of the illness and future trajectories. Families often report a lack of information and guidance during the period immediately following diagnosis, suggesting a missed opportunity for prevention of family distress at the outset of the caregiver and patient career. With large and increasing numbers of individuals newly diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) each year, there is an urgent need to develop effective intervention models to support role transitions and minimize distress related to ADRD diagnosis. The long-term goal of this research is to minimize negative consequences of ADRD by enhancing the support systems of the affected families as they start their new and challenging phase of life as patients and family caregivers. The aim of this research is to evaluate the impact of this new Options Counselor-Health Education (OC-HE) intervention on bridging the medical and community-settings through potential mechanisms of influence, enhancement of social networks and support. Implementation strategies will be developed in collaboration with partnering clinics and local Area Agencies on Aging. Participants will be recruited from three clinics at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC) that provide dementia diagnostic services and randomized into an intervention or control arm; and complete baseline and three- and six-month follow-up interviews. This study is innovative in its consideration of contributing factors at multiple levels of the ecological model (i.e., individual, social network, and organizational) and its collaborative approach, involving medical clinics, an Area Agency on Aging (AAA), and Alzheimer's Association (AA) to develop and evaluate a new care model that bridges between the medical and community settings.

Conditions

• Caregiver Burden

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Options Counselor Health Educator (OC-HE) Intervention

The OC-HE will meet in person with the participant one time and five times via telephone to provide options counseling based on modules developed by the research team

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute on Aging (NIA)

  collaborator NIH

• University of Kansas

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Michigan

  collaborator OTHER

• Boston College

  collaborator OTHER

• Drexel University

  collaborator OTHER

• Sato Ashida

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Sato Ashida, PhD · University of Iowa

• Kristine Williams, RN, PhD · University of Kansas

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

110 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2019-08-01

Primary Completion

2021-10-31

Completion

2021-10-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations