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The PorchLight Project

Not Applicable
Active, not recruiting
Conditions
Memory Loss
Dementia
Alzheimer Disease
Interventions
Other: PorchLight
Registration Number
NCT05550727
Lead Sponsor
University of Minnesota
Brief Summary

The proposed project is a fully embedded pragmatic trial (R01), following an R61 pilot collaboration with Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota (LSS-MN).

For this project: a) the training program for Senior Companions that was developed in the R61 Phase will now be delivered as part of a routine onboarding process provided by LSS-MN to all senior support volunteers in half of their program regions across Minnesota; LSS-MN will offer the PorchLight Project program to all regions and volunteers in the state during the final months of the proposed NIA project, consistent with quality improvement approaches; and b) LSS-MN will administer regular surveys to volunteers, clients, and their proxies (e.g., family caregivers) as part of ongoing tracking and quality improvement efforts.

The University of Minnesota investigators will not collect data nor administer training, as these activities will be fully integrated into the workflow of LSS-MN.

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA INVOLVEMENT:

The University of Minnesota and collaborating investigators outside of LSS-MN will only 1) assist in survey item selection, 2) randomize the LSS-MN regions for the initial phases of the real-world trial for evaluation purposes, 3) analyze the de-identified data shared by LSS-MN, and 4) disseminate the project results in scientific, practice, and policy outlets/contexts.

Detailed Description

Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
513
Inclusion Criteria

Not provided

Exclusion Criteria

As data is made available, the UMN research team expects to receive survey data from all the clients, caregivers, and volunteers in LSS-MN Caregiver & Companion Services programming who complete the surveys, and those included in the LSS database. Since LSS-MN administers surveys to every client, caregiver, and volunteer involved in their LSS-MN Caregiver & Companion program (as able), data likely will be obtained from individuals who do not meet the memory-specific criteria. However, as needed, UMN may choose to exclude one or more of the following from analysis. Again, the researcher/research staff best judgement will be used when conducting analyses and will document decisions accordingly:

  • Clients who do not have memory loss
  • Caregivers who do not indicate presence of memory loss for their care recipient.

In addition, any client, caregiver, and volunteer can choose to not complete surveys, so we would not have survey data from those individuals, and may continue with routine attempts at surveying at the next data collection time-point. Missing surveys may be considered during analysis.

Please note: Due to the eligibility criteria for volunteers and clients in the LSS-MN program, we do not anticipate any data for those under 18 years of age. Although the real-world, pragmatic design will allow us to include caregivers under the age of 21), it is important to note that LSS-MN's most recent data on caregivers participating in their volunteer programs indicate none under the age of 21

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
CROSSOVER
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
PorchLightPorchLight-
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Change in Volunteer Competence [Volunteers only]Baseline, 6 months, and 12 months

6-items assess the preparedness to provide visiting services for clients with a variety of conditions, including memory loss. This measure was designed for LSS-MN to determine the proportion of volunteers who indicate their level of preparedness.

Change in Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Global Health Scale [All participants]Baseline, 6 months, and 12 months

10-items assessing physical health, mental health, and quality of life.

Change in De Jong Gierveld Scale [Clients only]Baseline, 6 months, and 12 months

6-items assessing loneliness

Change in Caregiver Burden [Caregivers only]Baseline, 6 months, and 12 months

2-items regarding time spent caregiving (days, hours) and 1-item regarding stress associated with caregiving (0-10 scale). These measures were designed for LSS-MN to assess the proportion of caregivers indicating burden.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Program Cost-Effectiveness12 months

Incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) is the difference between the cost of the PorchLight Project and the usual LSS-MN Caregiver \& Companion Services divided by the difference in the benefit (is the person with AD/ADRD's quality-adjusted life-years \[QALYs\]) between the PorchLight Project and the usual Caregiver \& Companion Services.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

University of Minnesota (with Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota)

🇺🇸

Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

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