Care Partner Assessment Tool for Dementia

Overseen By Anne Mortensen

Age: 18+

Sex: Any

Trial Phase: Academic

Sponsor: University of Wisconsin, Madison

Disqualifiers: Non-English speaking

No Placebo Group All trial participants will receive the active study treatment (no placebo)

Approved in 1 Jurisdiction This treatment is already approved in other countries

Compensation: Varies

Number of Visits: 5

128 Participants Needed

What You Need to Know Before You Apply

What is the purpose of this trial?

This trial aims to determine if the Care Partner Hospital Assessment Tool (CHAT) can improve care for people with dementia after hospital discharge. The study focuses on care partners assisting a hospitalized loved one with Alzheimer's or similar dementia. Participants will either continue with usual care or use the CHAT tool to communicate their needs for enhanced post-hospital support. This trial suits those providing unpaid care to a hospitalized adult with dementia. As an unphased trial, it offers a unique opportunity to contribute to innovative care strategies for dementia patients.

Will I have to stop taking my current medications?

The trial information does not specify whether participants need to stop taking their current medications.

What prior data suggests that the Care Partner Hospital Assessment Tool is safe for use with dementia care partners?

Research has shown that the Care Partner Hospital Assessment Tool (CHAT) is safe to use. This questionnaire assists family members or friends in caring for people with dementia after hospital discharge.

Studies have found that healthcare professionals and caregivers collaborated to create this tool, ensuring it meets real needs without causing harm. No reports indicate negative effects from using this tool, as it involves only answering questions to enhance care.

In summary, CHAT is easy to use and poses no known risks to participants. ^{1 2 3 4 5}

Why are researchers excited about this trial?

Researchers are excited about the Care Partner Hospital Assessment Tool (CHAT-AD) for dementia because it offers a personalized approach to post-hospital care. Unlike standard care, which often provides a one-size-fits-all solution, CHAT-AD involves asking caregivers specific questions about their needs to better support their loved ones after discharge. This method aims to tailor resources and guidance to each unique situation, potentially improving outcomes for both patients and their caregivers by addressing individual challenges more effectively.

What evidence suggests that the Care Partner Hospital Assessment Tool is effective for improving care for dementia patients?

Research shows that the Care Partner Hospital Assessment Tool (CHAT) can assist those caring for people with dementia. In this trial, participants in the experimental arm will use the adapted version for dementia care, called CHAT-AD, which helps identify care partners' needs when their loved ones leave the hospital. Early results suggest it might improve home care. Although researchers are still studying its effectiveness for dementia care, the tool aims to provide better support and outcomes for both patients and their care partners. Participants in the other arm will receive standard care without using CHAT-AD. ^{1 2 3 6 7}

Who Is on the Research Team?

Beth Fields, PhD

Principal Investigator

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Are You a Good Fit for This Trial?

This trial is for adult care partners who provide unpaid assistance to a hospitalized relative or partner with Alzheimer's disease or related dementias (ADRD). Participants must be over 18 and speak English. It's not suitable for those who cannot communicate in English.

Inclusion Criteria

I am an unpaid caregiver for a relative or partner with ADRD in the hospital.

Timeline for a Trial Participant

Screening

Participants are screened for eligibility to participate in the trial

2-4 weeks

Adaptation and Co-design

Adaptation of CHAT-AD through co-design sessions with stakeholders

4 months

5 co-design videoconference sessions

Recruitment and Randomization

Recruitment of care partners and randomization into intervention or control groups

2-4 weeks

Intervention

Participants receive either the adapted CHAT-AD intervention or standard care

14 days

Follow-up

Participants are monitored for outcomes such as care partner satisfaction and burden

72 hours post-discharge

What Are the Treatments Tested in This Trial?

Interventions

• Care Partner Hospital Assessment Tool

Trial Overview The study is testing the CHAT-AD, an assessment tool designed to improve post-hospital care for people with dementia. Care partners will use this questionnaire to help ensure better ongoing care once the patient returns home from the hospital.

How Is the Trial Designed?

Group I: Adjusted CHAT-AD Experimental Treatment 1 Intervention

Using CHAT, participants will be asked questions about their needs to fully support and care for their loved one after the loved one is released from the hospital.

Group II: Standard of Care Active Control 1 Intervention

Participants in this arm will only receive standard of care.

Who Is Running the Clinical Trial?

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Lead Sponsor

Trials

1,249

Recruited

3,255,000+

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Collaborator

Trials

2,896

Recruited

8,053,000+

National Institute on Aging (NIA)

Collaborator

Trials

1,841

Recruited

28,150,000+

Published Research Related to This Trial

The Care Partner Hospital Assessment Tool (CHAT) was developed to effectively identify the educational and skill training needs of care partners for hospitalized older adults, showing strong support from caregiving experts (70-100% agreement).

Qualitative interviews with hospital administrators and practitioners confirmed that the CHAT is intuitive and clear, highlighting its feasibility for implementation and the importance of addressing care partners' needs to enhance their caregiving capabilities.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Evaluating the Appropriateness and Feasibility of the Care Partner Hospital Assessment Tool (CHAT). Carbery, M., Schulz, R., Rodakowski, J., et al.[2021]

The implementation of a clinician-carer communication tool, known as TOP 5, over 12 months in 21 Australian hospitals significantly increased clinician confidence in caring for patients with dementia, as reported by 798 clinicians.

While there was no overall change in incident-reported falls across all hospitals, one hospital with a matched control ward saw an average reduction of 6.85 falls per month in the intervention ward, suggesting potential improvements in patient safety.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Improving clinician-carer communication for safer hospital care: a study of the 'TOP 5' strategy in patients with dementia. Luxford, K., Axam, A., Hasnip, F., et al.[2022]

The Care Partner Hospital Assessment Tool (CHAT) was developed and validated to assess the needs of care partners for aging adults during hospital stays, involving input from 4 care partners and 19 experts in the field.

CHAT demonstrated strong content validity with 22 out of 24 items accepted, indicating it effectively captures care partners' backgrounds, preferences, and training needs, which can help healthcare practitioners provide better support.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

The Development and Content Validation of the Care Partner Hospital Assessment Tool. Fields, B., Schulz, R., Terhorst, L., et al.[2022]

The Care Partner Hospital Assessment Tool (CHAT) is being adapted for use with care partners of hospitalized individuals living with dementia, aiming to enhance their preparedness for caregiving after discharge.

A pilot randomized controlled trial will evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of the adapted tool (D-CHAT) over approximately 60 months, with the goal of improving hospital care processes and outcomes for both patients and their care partners.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Adapting and Testing the Care Partner Hospital Assessment Tool for Use in Dementia Care: Protocol for a 2 Sequential Phase Study. Fields, B., Werner, N., Shah, MN., et al.[2023]

The adapted Measure of Support in Conversation (MSC-D) and Measure of Participation in Conversation (MPC-D) scales show good to excellent reliability for assessing communication support in people with dementia, based on ratings from 25 casual conversations.

Inter-rater reliability for MSC-D was good (ICC = 0.718-0.812) and excellent for MPC-D (ICC = 0.904-0.945), indicating that these tools can consistently evaluate the quality of interactions between people with dementia and their conversation partners.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Measuring the interactions of people with dementia and their conversation partners: a preliminary adaption of the Kagan measures of support and participation in conversation. Mok, Z., Steel, G., Russell, C., et al.[2021]

The Care Partner Hospital Assessment Tool (CHAT) was found to be easy to understand and complete by care partners of hospitalized older adults, indicating its feasibility for use in clinical settings.

Care partners reported that the CHAT was useful in identifying their needs and those of the older adults they care for, supporting its face validity and acceptability for improving care partner support in hospitals.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Evaluation of Face Validity and Acceptability of the Care Partner Hospital Assessment Tool. Fields, B., Carbery, M., Schulz, R., et al.[2023]

Citations

1. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10337334/

Adapting and Testing the Care Partner Hospital ... The purpose of this paper is to describe the study protocol for the adaptation and testing of the CHAT for use among care partners of hospitalized people ...

2. clinicaltrials.gov clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05592366

Dementia Care Partner Hospital Assessment Tool The purpose of this study is to adapt CHAT for care partners of hospitalized patients living with ADRD (CHAT-AD) and evaluate its feasibility and potential ...

3. alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/dad2.70115

Using co‐design to adapt the care partner hospital ... The Care Partner Hospital Assessment Tool (CHAT) is a standardized tool for identifying and training care partners, but has not been adapted for dementia care.

4. withpower.com withpower.com/trial/phase-dementia-10-2022-43bf4

Care Partner Assessment Tool for Dementia A pilot randomized controlled trial will evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of the adapted tool (D-CHAT) over approximately 60 months, with the goal of ...

5. ctv.veeva.com ctv.veeva.com/study/dementia-care-partner-hospital-assessment-tool

Dementia Care Partner Hospital Assessment Tool The purpose of this study is to adapt CHAT for care partners of hospitalized patients living with ADRD (CHAT-AD) and evaluate its feasibility and potential ...

6. researchprotocols.org researchprotocols.org/2023/1/e46808/

Adapting and Testing the Care Partner Hospital ... Because there is a great need for a novel decision-support tool in hospital-based dementia care, we will (1) adapt the CHAT for dementia (ie, ...

7. trialfinder.panfoundation.org trialfinder.panfoundation.org/en-US/trial/listing/370917

Dementia Care Partner Hospital Assessment Tool The purpose of this study is to see whether an adapted questionnaire called the Care Partner Hospital Assessment Tool (CHAT) for care ...