An Internet-Based Education Program for Care Partners of People Living With Dementia

Summary

With the aging population, the prevalence of dementia is increasing dramatically. People living with dementia are highly dependent on family care partners, who may have little knowledge of the disorder. National and provincial guidelines have all highlighted the importance of online resources to improve care partner education; however, very few have been widely implemented or rigorously studied.

The investigators have developed the award-winning dementia education platform to complement traditional patient and family educational approaches. It allows free access to multimedia e-learning lessons, live expert webinars, and email-based content that care partners can access any time, anywhere.

In a pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT), the investigators propose to study 1) the feasibility and care partner acceptance of the intervention and some of the study methods, and 2) the impact of the intervention on care partner self-efficacy, knowledge, and sense of burden.

This initiative has the potential to improve the quality, cost effectiveness, and efficiency of dementia care. The intervention could be easily scaled and spread both provincially and nationally to complement other dementia education methods, at a time when the prevalence of dementia is increasing and access to high quality internet-based interventions is essential.

Conditions

• Dementia
• Burden, Caregiver
• Self Efficacy
• Knowledge

Interventions

OTHER

Education Intervention

Participants in the intervention group will be provided e-learning about dementia and promoting brain health, consisting of the following components: 1. Ten selected multimedia e-learning lessons; 2. A series of 16 'micro-learning' emails (2 emails/week) with small segments of content to reinforce the material from the lessons. Participants will have 8-weeks to complete the intervention. The total time to complete is approximately 5-6 hours.

OTHER

Education Control

Participants in the control group will be provided e-learning about dementia and promoting brain health, consisting of the following components: 1. One selected multimedia e-learning lesson; 2. A series of 16 'micro-learning' emails (2 emails/week) with small segments of content to reinforce the material from the lessons. Participants will have 8-weeks to complete. The total time to complete is approximately 1-2 hours. Note: All participants will receive access to all e-learning at the conclusion of the study.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• The Physicians' Services Incorporated Foundation

  collaborator OTHER

• McMaster University

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

TRIPLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2022-09-06

Primary Completion

2023-09-05

Completion

2023-09-05

Countries

• Canada

Study Locations