Clinical trial NCT06817876: Connecting Caregivers With Community Services: The Care Buddy Platform
Official title: Connecting Caregivers With Community Services: The Care Buddy Platform
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING
Phase: NA
Conditions: Dementia
Lead sponsor: Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)
name: Khoo Teck Puat Hospital
First posted: 2025-02-10
Enrollment: 210
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 21
Maximum age (years): 80
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Brief summary: The study aims to develop a mobile-app (Care Buddy) which will be a one-stop integrated source of information and technology-based solutions for caregivers of people with dementia (PWDs). Study aims to bring caregivers into closer partnerships with the wider ecosystem (e.g., healthcare practitioners, community services, peer support, and care service providers) which will ultimately improve outcomes for both PWDs and their caregivers.

Detailed description: This is a 5-year study with various stages: 1) proof-of-concept stage to design and develop the Care buddy intervention, 2) proof-of-value stage to assess the feasibility, acceptability and satisfaction with the Care buddy intervention among informal caregivers of PWDs, 3) test-bedding stage to assess the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of the Care buddy intervention versus usual care among informal caregivers of PWDs with help of a multi-centre 2-arm RCT and 4) deployment stage to scale up the intervention at multiple centres across Singapore, monitor its adoption and outcomes and assess any organizational and individual barriers to adoption.

By the end of the proposed five-year project, investigators aim to develop and evaluate the technology as well as achieve widespread adoption among caregivers of PWDs. Investigators want to enable easy access to information, provide decisional and social support, improve the reach and uptake of existing community service providers, and assist with coordination among multiple informal and professional caregivers through the journey of dementia caregiving and into the bereavement phase.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* The inclusion criteria for patients are

  1. Singaporean/Permanent residents
  2. Age 21 years of age or older
  3. Main person or one of the main persons involved in making decisions regarding treatment patient receives or responsible for ensuring the well-being of the patient
  4. An active primary caregiver for at least 6 months, and planning to remain the primary caregiver for the next 2 years
  5. Is a family member of the patient with dementia
  6. Can read and write in English
  7. Accessible by telephone to schedule interviews
  8. Has familiarity with use of technology (e.g., computers, tablets, or internet) and is able to complete surveys, forms using digital technology
  9. Intact cognition determined through the Abbreviated Mental Test (AMT) for those who are ≥ 65 years old.
  10. Caregivers who score \>=9 on the 6-item Zarit Burden scale

Exclusion Criteria:

* Caregivers of patients staying in nursing home or other long-term care facility with no intention of being discharged will not be eligible however, if the patient is admitted to respite care for short/long term duration after being recruited, caregivers can continue to participate.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Caregiver Psychological well-being
timeFrame: 1 year from data collection
measure: Caregiver social scale
timeFrame: 1 year from data collection
measure: Caregiver Dementia Knowledge
timeFrame: 1 year from data collection
measure: Caregiver Impact
timeFrame: 1 year from data collection
measure: Caregiver Burden
timeFrame: 1 year from data collection
measure: Caregiver Stress
timeFrame: 1 year from data collection
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
measure: Health care costs
timeFrame: 1 year from data collection
Locations:
city: Singapore
country: Singapore
facility: Duke-NUS
Study officials:
References: