Implementing a Family Caregiver Checklist in Primary Care: A Pilot Study

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The goal of this project is to pilot test CHEC (Collaborative Healthcare Encounters with Caregivers) in primary care. CHEC is brief intervention with two components: 1) a checklist to identify the needs and concerns of unpaid/family caregivers who accompany older patients (aged 65+) to their primary care visits and 2) accompanying Tip Sheet for clinicians.

Official Title
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Implementing a Family Caregiver Checklist in Primary Care: A Pilot Study

Conditions
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Caregiver Burnout

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Collaborative Healthcare Encounters with Caregivers (CHEC)
* Behavioral: Usual Care


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Patients Age 65-89 English speaking Women and men Of varying race/ethnicity Accompanied to primary care visits at the Center on Aging by a family caregiver (family caregiver also consents to participating in this study) Sufficient cognitive capacity to consent themselves or through a legal representative Caregivers Age 21+ English speaking Women and men Of varying race/ethnicity Accompany an older adult to his or her primary care visits at the Center on Aging (Older adult also consents to participating in this study) Cognitively intact (on basis of a 6-item cognitive screen) Clinicians Age 21+ Women and men Of varying race/ethnicity Treat patients at the Center on Aging Exclusion Criteria: Patients, caregivers, and clinicians that do not meet the inclusion criteria. Patients and caregivers who are deaf or have hearing impairments that limit their ability to answer telephone queries. Caregivers who are visually impaired and cannot see well enough to read large print and complete paper-based surveys. Patients and/or caregivers whose dyad counterpart does not consent to take part in the study (i.e., Patients gives consent and their caregiver does not).

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 21 Years
Maximum Age: 89 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Screening
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Caregiver Checklist (CHEC)<br>CHEC is composed of two elements: 1) a checklist to identify the needs and concerns of unpaid/family caregivers who accompany older adults (aged 65+) to their primary care visits and 2) Tip Sheet for clinicians. | Behavioral: Collaborative Healthcare Encounters with Caregivers (CHEC)<br>* CHEC is a brief checklist designed to identify family caregivers' unmet needs and concerns.<br>|
| Active Comparator: Usual care<br>Attendance at primary care appointments as usual. | Behavioral: Usual Care<br>* Attendance at primary care appointments as usual.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Accrual rate, as measured by the number of caregivers who complete the checklist | Accrual rate, as measured by the number of caregivers who complete the checklist | Through study completion, up to 1 year | 
| Acceptable length of CHEC, as measured by the proportion of caregivers who report that the checklist is an acceptable length | Acceptable length of CHEC, as measured by the proportion of caregivers who report that the checklist is an acceptable length | Post intervention, at 1 week | 
| CHEC's ease of use, as measured by the proportion of caregivers who report that the checklist is easy to use | CHEC's ease of use, as measured by the proportion of caregivers who report that the checklist is easy to use | Post intervention, at 1 week | 
| CHEC's helpfulness in identify caregivers' needs, as measured by the proportion of caregivers who report that the checklist is helpful in identifying their needs | CHEC's helpfulness in identify caregivers' needs, as measured by the proportion of caregivers who report that the checklist is helpful in identifying their needs | Post intervention, at 1 week | 
| CHEC's helpfulness in starting a conversation with health care providers about caregivers' needs, as measured by the proportion of caregivers who report that the checklist is helpful in starting a conversation with providers about their needs | CHEC's helpfulness in starting a conversation with health care providers about caregivers' needs, as measured by the proportion of caregivers who report that the checklist is helpful in starting a conversation with providers about their needs | Post intervention, at 1 week | 
| Desire to continue use, as measured by the number caregivers who report that they desire to continue using the checklist in the future | Desire to continue use, as measured by the number caregivers who report that they desire to continue using the checklist in the future | Post intervention, at 1 week | 
| Discussion of caregivers' needs, as measured by the number of completed checklists that result in a conversation with providers about caregiver needs/concerns | Discussion of caregivers' needs, as measured by the number of completed checklists that result in a conversation with providers about caregiver needs/concerns | Post intervention, at 1 week | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Caregiver, Older adult, Primary care, Screening