E-Tailored Pain Management Support for Dementia Family Caregivers: Feasibility of the PACE-app

Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to test whether a web-based application called the Pain Control Enhancement App (PACE-app) can support family caregivers in managing pain for their care recipients with dementia. The main questions it aims to answer are:

Is it feasible and acceptable for family caregivers to use the PACE-app?

Does using the PACE-app improve caregiver self-efficacy in pain management, adherence to pain treatments, communication with care providers, well-being, and their care recipient's pain conditions?

Researchers will compare caregivers who use the PACE-app to those who continue with their usual care practices to see if the app leads to better outcomes for both caregivers and care recipients.

Participants will:

Be randomly assigned to either the PACE-app group or a usual-care control group

Complete online surveys at baseline, 1 month, and 2 months

If assigned to the PACE-app group:

Use the PACE-app for 1 month to receive tailored pain management strategies and tools, and record their care recipient's pain in a digital diary

Participate in an interview about their experience with the app

All participation activities can be done remotely or in person.

Conditions

• Care Giving Burden
• Dementia
• Chronic Pain
• Pain Management
• Palliative Care

Interventions

OTHER

Web-based pain management support tool

The Pain Control Enhancement App (PACE-app) is a web-based tool designed to help family caregivers manage pain in persons with dementia. The app provides a brief screening to identify caregiver challenges and delivers tailored strategies, communication prompts for providers, and an educational resource library. It includes a digital pain diary for tracking daily pain, treatments, and urgent care use, with weekly reports that can be shared with healthcare providers. The app is accessible on any internet-connected device and designed for caregivers with varying levels of digital literacy.

BEHAVIORAL

Usual Pain Management Care

Caregivers receive no new intervention; they manage their care recipient's pain according to standard practices. No access to the PACE-app is given during the study period.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Alzheimer's Association

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Iowa

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Nai-Ching Chi, PhD, MS, MSN, BSN · University of Iowa

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

100 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2025-05-22

Primary Completion

2026-05-31

Completion

2026-05-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations