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Advanced Dementia and End-of-life

The safety and scientific validity of this study is the responsibility of the study sponsor and investigators. Listing a study does not mean it has been evaluated by the U.S. Federal Government. Read our disclaimer for details.
 
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03548142
Recruitment Status : Completed
First Posted : June 7, 2018
Last Update Posted : April 16, 2019
Sponsor:
Collaborators:
Bavarian State Ministry of Health and Care
German Alzheimer Society
Information provided by (Responsible Party):
Janine Diehl-Schmid, Technical University of Munich

Study Description
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Brief Summary:

Palliative and hospice care in advanced dementia: experiences of care givers and benefit of a brochure serving as a decision-making aid

Aims:

  1. Designing a brochure serving as an information tool and decision-making aid used to answer questions concerning palliative and hospice care for care-givers of persons with advanced dementia.

    The brochure shall demonstrate the possibilities and offerings of palliative and hospice care and shall serve to inform about the advanced stages of dementia, the legal basic principles in decision making and ethical problems, treatment options and (palliative) treatment goals.

  2. Survey of the palliative, palliative medical and hospice care of persons with advanced dementia in ambulatory settings, as well as in residential geriatric care and the experiences of the care-givers.

    By examining persons with dementia and inspecting the care documents and where applicable the medical files it is to be evaluated:

    • which procedures of palliative and hospice care are practically implemented in ambulatory care and in residential geriatric care,
    • which symptoms the persons with dementia suffer from and how those symptoms are (or are not) treated,
    • to what extend caregivers are informed about relevant aspects
    • how caregivers assess care and which problems, needs and requests exist.
  3. Piloting phase for the brochure. To test the comprehensibility and the acceptance of the brochure a study is planned. The caregivers are asked for their opinion whether the brochure is helpful. It is recorded if the reading of the brochure gets the caregivers to engage actively in the participative decision making process.

Condition or disease Intervention/treatment Phase
Advanced Dementia Behavioral: provision of relevant information Not Applicable

Detailed Description:

Two visits at home or in the residential geriatric care at intervals of eight to twelve weeks are scheduled.

The following data is collected at enrollment:

  • Informed consent of the caregiver and of the patient or rather the caregiver with powers of attorney
  • Sociodemographic data (caregiver and person with dementia), e.g. age, sex, education, degree of relationship
  • Interview of the caregiver using standardized
  • Examination of the person with dementia, recording of the treatment and the care situation, cognitive status: Mini-Mental-Status-Test, severity of dementia: Clinical Dementia Rating Scale, performance in basic activities of daily living: Barthel-Index,communication competence, diagnosis, (palliative) medical and hospice care (including specialists in palliative care, specialists in hospice care, general practioners, domiciliary care services, Allgemeine Ambulante Palliativversorgung [AAPV], Spezielle Ambulante Palliativversorgung [SAPV], AAPV and SAPV both being a specific ambulatory palliative care of the statutory health insurance system in Germany, cognitive/neurological/physical symptoms, symptom Management including pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment, interventions, existence and phrasing of advanced directives and durable power of attorney.

After enrollment the brochure is handed and explained to the caregivers and they are encouraged to read it. It is pointed out that they are contacted after two to three months to answer questions concerning comprehensibility, acceptance, practical consequences and to give a personnel review.

At study end after two to three months standardized interviews are conducted to gather information about comprehensibility and acceptance of the brochure, how it is reviewed by the caregivers and if the reading had direct consequences with regard to knowledge of the caregiver, communicating with nursing staff/physicians, decision making and implementing those decisions.

Study Design
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Study Type : Interventional  (Clinical Trial)
Actual Enrollment : 38 participants
Allocation: N/A
Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
Official Title: Palliative and Hospice Care in Advanced Dementia: Experiences of Care Givers and Benefit of a Brochure Serving as a Decision-making Aid
Actual Study Start Date : July 11, 2017
Actual Primary Completion Date : September 1, 2018
Actual Study Completion Date : September 1, 2018

Resource links provided by the National Library of Medicine


Arms and Interventions
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Intervention Details:
  • Behavioral: provision of relevant information
    caregivers are provided with brochure that informs about end-of-life issues for persons with advanced dementia

Outcome Measures
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Primary Outcome Measures :
  1. Patients' Perceived Involvement in Care Scale [ Time Frame: two to three months ]
    Involvement is expected, when caregiver at study end achieve one point more in the sum score (sum score maximum is eight points)


Secondary Outcome Measures :
  1. family caregivers´satisfaction with care [ Time Frame: Assessment A (inclusion/baseline, before reading the brochure) and Assessment B (after reading the brochure, two to three months after Assessment A) ]
    the adapted version of End of life in dementia-Satisfaction with Care, (SWC-EOLD)


Eligibility Criteria
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Information from the National Library of Medicine

Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contacts provided below. For general information, Learn About Clinical Studies.


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Ages Eligible for Study:   18 Years and older   (Adult, Older Adult)
Sexes Eligible for Study:   All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:   No
Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Person with dementia + caregiver live in the Munich area
  • Person with dementia lives in a nursing home or at home
  • Person with dementia is in an advanced stage of the disease (moderate to severe dementia)
  • Informed consent of the caregiver and the person with powers of attorney
  • Caregiver is German-speaking and able to read
Contacts and Locations
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Information from the National Library of Medicine

To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.

Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT03548142


Locations
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Germany
Center for Cognitive Disorders
Munich, Bavaria, Germany, 81675
Sponsors and Collaborators
Technical University of Munich
Bavarian State Ministry of Health and Care
German Alzheimer Society
More Information
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Additional Information:

Publications:

Publications automatically indexed to this study by ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT Number):

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Responsible Party: Janine Diehl-Schmid, Clinical Professor, Principle Investigator, Technical University of Munich
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03548142    
Other Study ID Numbers: palliative study
First Posted: June 7, 2018    Key Record Dates
Last Update Posted: April 16, 2019
Last Verified: April 2019
Individual Participant Data (IPD) Sharing Statement:
Plan to Share IPD: No

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Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Drug Product: No
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Device Product: No
Keywords provided by Janine Diehl-Schmid, Technical University of Munich:
Palliative Care
advanced dementia
life-prolonging treatment
patient will
advanced care planning
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
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Dementia
Brain Diseases
Central Nervous System Diseases
 Nervous System Diseases
Neurocognitive Disorders
Mental Disorders