SOCAV: a Nurse-led Support Programme for Self-direction in People With Dementia (SOCAV-program)

Radboud University Medical Center

Status: Completed

Conditions: Dementia Caregivers; Dementia

Treatments: Behavioral: SOCAV-Home Care (self-directed care support for home-dwelling people with dementia)

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT07347639

MEC A-N 2019-5689

Details and patient eligibility

About

In this study, we tested whether a support program could help people living at home with dementia keep making their own everyday choices for as long as possible, with help from a family caregiver and a home-care nurse. Nurses received training and coaching to better focus on what the person still wants and can do, and to avoid taking over tasks too quickly. The program also included home conversations with the person with dementia and their caregiver to agree on what matters most and how to support that in daily life. In total, 12 people with dementia, 14 caregivers, and 33 nurses took part. Most participants felt the program was helpful and said it increased attention to personal choice and small day-to-day decisions. However, it also took time and was sometimes hard to schedule, and some people dropped out. The questionnaires did not show clear improvements in things like quality of life, but there were signs that some behavior problems (such as restlessness or difficult situations) became less frequent for some participants.

Enrollment: 85 patients

Sex: All

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• People with dementia were eligible if they had mild to moderate dementia (diagnosed by a general practitioner or geriatrician), lived at home, and received care from a home-care team.
• Informal caregivers were eligible if they provided care at least twice per week, either as a co-residing primary caregiver or as a regularly visiting secondary caregiver.
• Nurses were eligible if they worked in home care, supported people with dementia, and were employed by the regional care organization.

Exclusion criteria

• People with dementia were excluded if they had a Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) score >6;

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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85 participants in 1 patient group

SOCAV-Home Care intervention arm

Other group

Description:

Single-arm study: all participants received SOCAV-Home Care, where home-care nurses were trained and coached to support autonomy in daily decisions, and the person with dementia and caregiver had several home sessions to set goals and agree on practical strategies to maintain choice and independence.

Treatment:

Behavioral: SOCAV-Home Care (self-directed care support for home-dwelling people with dementia)