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43 Participants Needed

DETECT-RPC Screening for Elder Abuse
(DETECT-RPC Trial)

Recruiting at 6 trial locations

Overseen ByJames S Barnes

Age: 18+

Sex: Any

Trial Phase: Academic

Sponsor: The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston

Disqualifiers: Others

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

What You Need to Know Before You Apply

What is the purpose of this trial?

This trial aims to see if using a special screening tool helps healthcare workers find and report more cases of elder abuse among elderly patients who receive care at home.

Will I have to stop taking my current medications?

The trial information does not specify whether you need to stop taking your current medications.

Is the DETECT-RPC screening tool safe for use in humans?

The DETECT-RPC screening tool is designed to identify elder mistreatment and has been tested for its effectiveness in emergency settings, but there is no specific safety data available for this tool as it is a screening method rather than a medical treatment.¹ ² ³ ⁴ ⁵

How is the DETECT-RPC screening tool different from other treatments for elder abuse?

The DETECT-RPC screening tool is unique because it is designed for use by emergency care technicians in primary care settings to efficiently identify elder mistreatment through observation during emergency responses. Unlike other methods, it focuses on real-time, observation-based screening, which is not commonly available in standard elder abuse detection protocols.¹ ³ ⁶ ⁷ ⁸

What data supports the effectiveness of the DETECT-RPC screening tool for elder abuse?

The DETECT screening tool, which the DETECT-RPC is based on, has been developed and initially tested for identifying elder mistreatment during emergency response calls, showing promise in its ability to help medics identify at-risk older adults. Additionally, emergency departments are recognized as key settings for identifying elder mistreatment, suggesting that tools like DETECT-RPC could be effective in these environments.¹ ² ³ ⁴ ⁵

Who Is on the Research Team?

Michael B Cannell, PhD,MPH

Principal Investigator

The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston

Are You a Good Fit for This Trial?

This trial is for clinicians who provide home-based primary care at least part-time to patients in partner programs. It's not specified who can't join, but typically those not involved in such care would be excluded.

Inclusion Criteria

Clinician who actively provides home-based primary care to patients enrolled in one of our partner home-based primary care programs at least part time (physicians)

Patients seen by a clinician participating in the study

I receive my primary healthcare at home.

See 1 more

Exclusion Criteria

N/A

Timeline for a Trial Participant

Screening

Participants are screened for eligibility to participate in the trial

2-4 weeks

Intervention

Participants are either screened using the DETECT-RPC tool or not, to evaluate its impact on reporting elder mistreatment

3 years

Follow-up

Participants are monitored for the number of reports of elder mistreatment and mortality

3 years

What Are the Treatments Tested in This Trial?

Interventions

Detection of Elder mistreatment Through Emergency Care Technicians-Revised for Primary Care (DETECT-RPC) screening tool

Trial Overview The DETECT-RPC tool is being tested to see if it helps clinicians report elder mistreatment more often when they visit older adults at home for primary care services.

How Is the Trial Designed?

2Treatment groups

Experimental Treatment

Active Control

Group I: with DETECT-RPC screening toolExperimental Treatment1 Intervention

Group II: without DETECT-RPC screening toolActive Control1 Intervention

Find a Clinic Near You

Who Is Running the Clinical Trial?

The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston

Lead Sponsor

Trials

974

Recruited

361,000+

National Institute on Aging (NIA)

Collaborator

Trials

1,841

Recruited

28,150,000+

Published Research Related to This Trial

A study involving 241 patients across medical and dental clinics demonstrated that screening for elder mistreatment (EM) is feasible, with a higher enrollment rate of 66% in dental clinics compared to 20% in medical clinics.

Patients were receptive to answering sensitive questions about elder mistreatment, indicating that clinics could serve as effective settings for identifying and addressing this serious issue.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Screening for elder mistreatment in dental and medical clinics.Fulmer, T., Strauss, S., Russell, SL., et al.[2022]

The DETECT tool is being validated for use by medics to identify older adults at risk of elder mistreatment during emergency 911 calls, with a large-scale study involving approximately 59,400 older adults over 36 months.

Follow-up interviews with a subsample of 2,520 participants will assess the accuracy of the DETECT tool in determining elder mistreatment exposure, providing a robust method for improving the safety and well-being of older adults.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Validation of the detection of elder abuse through emergency care technicians (DETECT) screening tool: a study protocol.Cannell, B., Weitlauf, J., Livingston, MD., et al.[2021]

A pilot program at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center successfully adapted the Elder Mistreatment Screening and Response Tool (EM-SART) to screen older Veterans for elder abuse, identifying 3.6% of those screened as potentially experiencing abuse.

The program's interdisciplinary approach, involving social workers, nurses, and technicians, has the potential to be expanded across the Veterans Health Administration, improving detection and intervention for elder abuse in a high-risk population.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Leveraging VA geriatric emergency department accreditation to improve elder abuse detection in older Veterans using a standardized tool.Makaroun, LK., Halaszynski, JJ., Rosen, T., et al.[2023]