partners at meals - respite care and home (pam)

Conditions: Dementia, Alzheimer Type; Weight Loss

Summary: the goal of this study was to test the efficacy of a mealtime intervention in respite care centers for people with dementia and their caregivers. mealtimes become more challenging as dementia progresses causing nutritional and behavioral issues in the affected individuals. using a train-the-trainer program built on the partners at meals model, volunteers in respite centers partner worked with caregivers and developed a mealtime plan that builds on the strengths of the person with dementia (pwd), and developed a supportive environment for change. a tele-health component was involved in the communication between the respite center volunteers/staff and families. recruitment was limited to people attending the particular respite centers. two large rccs with a total of 5 sites of care in suburban and rural areas of sc were the sites of this project.

the goal of this study was to test the efficacy of a mealtime intervention (partners at meals) in respite care centers (rccs) that provided a social model of care for people with dementia living in the community and support for their caregivers. largely staffed by long-time volunteers, these centers support caregivers' ability to maintain their loved one in the home. traditionally, support for social activities and mealtime offered by the rccs cannot be extended to home. in this project, we used a telehealth interface to provide consultation to family caregivers in the context of home where problems arise. the primary unit of analysis was pwd and their caregiver (cg) outcomes which included: a) pwd weight; b) dysfunctional behaviors at meals; c) quality of life (qol) of both persons with dementia and their caregivers; and, d) cg self efficacy of managing meals at home.

Eligibility criteria:
inclusion criteria: * persons with dementia (pwd): aged ≥ 60 years; attending a participating respite care center (rcc) at least once/week; living with or within the same property as caregiver (cg); diagnosis of alzheimer's disease or related dementia with mild to moderate stage as demonstrated by the functional assessment staging scale (fast) of 5 or greater and a mmse of 12 or above; absence of wasting disorders (e.g., hiv/aids, heart or renal failure or copd, end-stage cancer); some supervision required or dysfunctional behavior present (e.g., redirection) * caregiver (cg): lives with or on same property as the pwd; provides 4 hours or more of care/day; assists with adls including meals * volunteer: present at the rcc at least weekly (at least 4 hours/week); identify as comfortable in the teacher/coach role, and demonstrate ability to use televideo and photograph. exclusion criteria: * persons with dementia (pwd): not receiving enteral feeding or active treatment by a speech pathologist/therapist; not diagnosed with dysphagia as identified by caregiver or on rcc intake sheet. those enrolled in or qualifying for hospice will not be included. * caregiver (cg): paid for services as caregiver; unable to speak or read english * volunteer: unable to read and speak english

Keywords: caregiving mealtimes respite care train-the-trainer