Implementation of the Care Ecosystem Training Model for Individuals With Dementia in a High-risk, Integrated Care Management

NCT04556097 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 524

Last updated 2025-08-05

Study results available
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Summary

There is growing need for to provide high quality care for persons living with dementia (PLWD) and provide support for care partners in the primary care setting. The Care Ecosystem model is a telephone-based dementia care program that provides standardized, proactive, personalized, and scalable support and education for care partners. The Care Ecosystem model has demonstrated an improvement in patient quality of life, reduced unnecessary healthcare expenditures, and a decrease in care partner burden and depression.

In this pilot the investigators will assess the feasibility of implementing and measuring outcomes of an adapted Care Ecosystem training model for primary care nurse managers serving a diverse panel of PLWD and their care partners in primary care practices participating in the Mass General Brigham healthcare system's Integrated Care Management Program in Boston, MA. The study team will leverage the Mass General Brigham electronic medical record to determine the feasibility of collecting the primary clinical outcome defined as emergency department visits among the PLWD cared for by the primary care practices. The investigative team will also assess the feasibility of implementation, number of contacts between nurse care managers and care partners, and documented advance care planning.

Conditions

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Care Ecosystem

The Care Ecosystem model uses a telephone-based intervention to support persons with dementia and their care partners, screening for common dementia-related problems and providing modular standardized support protocols and caregiver education. Specially trained health care navigators systematically identify needs and address health status, advance care planning, medication management and management of challenging behaviors. Health care navigators receive backup support from a nurse, social worker, dementia specialist, and pharmacist, and maintain close communication with the primary care provider of the persons with dementia. This Care Ecosystem model will be adapted to augment the dementia care provided by experienced Integrated Care Management Program nurse care managers engaged in the care of high-risk, high-cost patients in a large health system.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Mclean Hospital

    lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
SINGLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
65 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2020-12-15
Primary Completion
2021-07-31
Completion
2021-11-03

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

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Entities

Diseases

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT04556097 on ClinicalTrials.gov