A Web-Based Education Program for Care Partners of People Living with Dementia (iGeriCare): Protocol for a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial (Preprint)
Authors: Levinson Anthony J. , Ayers Stephanie , Clark Sandra , Woodburn Rebekah , Markle-Reid Maureen , McKenna Brian , Oliver Doug , Papaioannou Alexandra , Siu Henry , Sztramko Richard 
Published: October 2024

BACKGROUND

The prevalence of dementia is increasing in Canada and in many countries internationally. People living with dementia are highly dependent on family and friend care partners, who may have little knowledge of the disorder. Web-based interventions in dementia have been shown to improve care partner mental health and reduce burden, but few have been widely implemented or rigorously studied. We developed a web- and email-based dementia education platform for care partners, iGeriCare, which includes 12 asynchronous multimedia e-learning lessons and email-based content to reinforce the learning.

OBJECTIVE

The primary objective of this pilot study is to evaluate the feasibility and care partner acceptance of the intervention, including study methods. Secondary objectives will examine the effectiveness of the educational resources on family care partners’ knowledge, self-efficacy, and sense of burden.

METHODS

This study is a two-arm pilot feasibility randomized controlled trial (RCT). 125 dementia family or friend care partners living in Canada aged 16+ who are comfortable using internet and email will be recruited using co-investigator networks and Facebook digital marketing advertisements. Participants will be randomized to either the intervention group (receiving the dementia web- and email-based educational intervention) or the control group (receiving an alternate topic e-learning lesson and emails) and will have 8 weeks to complete baseline surveys and the assigned e-learning. After 8 weeks, participants will have 2 weeks to complete post-study surveys. This protocol will be repeated with a second cohort of 100 care partners recruited from a paid panel service based on learnings from initial feasibility results.

RESULTS

Initial recruitment began on September 6, 2022 and concluded on October 2, 2022. A total of 125 participants were randomized to the intervention (n=61) or control (n=64) groups. Data collection concluded in January 2023. Preliminary feasibility results showed a substantial number of participants who did not engage with the protocol as intended. A decision was made to recruit a second cohort of participants to address these protocol deviations. Secondary recruitment began on June 12, 2023 and concluded on June 27, 2023. A total of 100 participants were randomized to the intervention (n=53) or control (n=48). Data collection concluded in September 2023. Further results will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at conferences.

CONCLUSIONS

This study is investigating the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of a web- and email-based dementia care partner educational intervention. The results of this study will contribute to the planning of a larger RCT in the future, as well as the evaluation of innovative, cost-effective, and efficient dementia care partner resources that can complement traditional approaches.

CLINICALTRIAL

This study has been registered on clinicaltrials.gov NCT05114187; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05114187