DemTool - Supporting Life With Dementia

Danish Dementia Research Centre

Status: Completed

Conditions: Dementia (Diagnosis)

Treatments: Behavioral: Life with dementia in a care home- Group course; Behavioral: Life with dementia in the community - Support group for family caregivers; Behavioral: Life with dementia in the community - Group course

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: NETWORK

Identifiers

NCT07355829

DemTool

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study will investigate the effects of a Danish psychosocial intervention, specifically the DemTool - supporting life with dementia, on quality of life and caregiver strain in family caregivers of people with dementia.

Full description

'DemTool - supporting life with dementia' was developed in Denmark by the Danish Dementia Research Centre with a focus on improving the quality of life of people with dementia and their family caregivers. DemTool was developed to assist professional caregivers in Danish municipalities. It is intended for use by professionals responsible for counseling and educating patients and their family caregivers in primary care settings. This study will examine the impact of DemTool on the quality of life and caregiver strain among family caregivers of individuals with dementia using self-reported data from questionnaires. Family caregivers who participated in the intervention were invited to complete a questionnaire before their inclusion in the study, which served as a baseline measure. They then filled out a follow-up questionnaire approximately one month after receiving their last intervention. Meanwhile, the treatment-as-usual group also completed a questionnaire before study inclusion and received a follow-up questionnaire two months after the baseline measure.

Enrollment: 272 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Age ≥18 years at enrollment.
• Providing care for a family member with dementia.
• Speaking and understanding Danish.

Exclusion criteria

• Unable to give informed consent for the trial

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Non-Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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272 participants in 2 patient groups

Intervention

Experimental group

Description:

The trial included 15 municipalities in the intervention group. Family caregivers in the intervention group received one or two of the tailored interventions based on their level of burden and specific needs, as assessed by the local primary care dementia coordinator in the municipality. The interventions included: 1) a support group focused on addressing caregiver burden, providing both professional and peer support; 2) a group course consisting of six sessions aimed at helping caregivers cope with everyday challenges; and 3) a group course over five sessions that offered information on dementia, transitioning to a nursing home, person-centered care, and effective communication strategies.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Life with dementia in the community - Group course

Behavioral: Life with dementia in the community - Support group for family caregivers

Behavioral: Life with dementia in a care home- Group course

Treatment-as-usual

No Intervention group

Description:

The trial included 15 municipalities in the treatment-as-usual group. Family caregivers in the treatment-as-usual group had access to local health and social services in their municipality, including support and information from primary care dementia coordinators, support groups, hotlines provided by patient associations, and respite care for the person with dementia in a home or daycare setting.