Pilot Study of Hospital GamePlan4Care

Part of paid clinical trials in Houston, Texas.

Sponsor
VA Office of Research and Development
Study ID
NCT06634368
Status
Recruiting
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Conditions

  • Caregivers

Eligibility Criteria

Sex
ALL
Age
18 Years - N/A
Healthy Volunteers
Not accepted

Interventions

  • Hospital GamePlan4Care — BEHAVIORAL
    The Hospital GamePlan4Care intervention will include access to a written VA Care Transitions handbook, access to the GamePlan4Care website for skills training, 11 emails encouraging them to visit the website, and four phone calls with a dementia care specialist to tailor the training to the caregiver's needs over a 3-month period.
  • Health Education — OTHER
    Caregivers in the health education arm will receive a VA Care Transitions Handbook, 4 emails with a weblink to a general caregiving topic, and 4 phone calls to confirm that the emails were received over a 3-month period.

Study Details

Hospital stays are stressful for the family and friends who care for adults with dementia. Following hospital discharge, adults with dementia often have increased care needs, which places new caregiving demands on their family and friends. Family and friends are critical to ensuring that Veterans with dementia can live safely in the community following discharge. Healthcare systems have an opportunity to support family and friends of adults with dementia by addressing dementia-specific caregiving challenges that arise during the transition from hospital to home. The investigators are comparing two different support programs for family and friends of hospitalized adults with dementia. The two programs are Hospital GamePlan4Care and Caregiver Education. Hospital GamePlan4Care was developed with feedback from people who care for Veterans with dementia. Hospital GamePlan4Care helps caregivers build skills to care for someone with dementia recently discharged from the hospital. It includes a written handbook, online training on the Hospital GamePlan4Care website, and phone calls with a dementia care specialist. The online training is tailored to the caregiver. The Caregiver Education program provides information that helps caregivers care for someone recently hospitalized. It includes a written handbook, recommendations for high-quality online resources, and phone calls with a dementia care specialist. Both programs will start when the adult with dementia is hospitalized. Each program lasts at least three months. To be eligible, the caregiver must care for a Veteran with dementia admitted to the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston, Texas. Caregivers interested in participating and passing eligibility screening will be enrolled in the study for at least three months. Each enrolled caregiver will have a 50% chance of being enrolled in the Hospital GamePlan4Care group or the Caregiver Education group (like flipping a coin). Both groups will be asked to complete several questionnaires about their needs as a caregiver and their well-being. Questionnaires will be completed at the beginning of the study and one and three months after the Veteran is discharged from the hospital. Each questionnaire should take 30-60 minutes to complete.

Key Dates

Start date
Feb 4, 2025
Status verified
Jun 2026
Primary completion
Sep 30, 2026
Completion
Sep 30, 2026

Study Design

Enrollment
50 participants (estimated)
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Arms

  • Experimental: Hospital GamePlan4care
    Tailored caregiver skills training and support for caregiving for a person with dementia
  • Active Comparator: Health Education
    Education on general caregiving topics.

Primary Outcome Measure

Change in Zarit Caregiving Burden Interview (12-item) [ Time Frame: Baseline, 30 days and 90 days ]

Central Contacts

Locations (1)

FacilityCityStateZIPSite coordinators
Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Houston, TXHoustonTexas77030-4211
Molly Horstman, MD MS
[email protected]
(713) 440-4400
Timothy J Zhou, MA
[email protected]
(713) 794-7939
Molly Horstman, MD MS (PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR)

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By research site
Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Houston, TX· Houston, TX

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