Training to Improve Late-Stage Dementia Care

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): At least half of all nursing home residents have Alzheimer's disease or another dementing condition (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 2002), and many nursing home caregivers lack the necessary knowledge and skills to provide appropriate care, particularly to those in the late stages of the disease process (U.S. General Accounting Office, 2000). Healthcare Interactive, in an innovative collaboration with the national office of the Alzheimer's Association, proposes to apply the capabilities of interactive multimedia to the educational needs of both professional and family caregivers of those people with late-stage Alzheimer's or dementia with the eventual Phase II goal of demonstrating improved care for these late-stage patients. The goal of the Phase I project is to demonstrate feasibility of an Internet-based interactive multimedia training resource targeted to nursing home caregivers of those with Alzheimer's disease or another dementing condition. By providing specific training about late-stage Alzheimer's and dementia care, the prototype should result in improved care practices and outcomes for the residents, and improved communication between families and nursing home staff. Plans for Phase II include product completion and efficacy testing to determine the extent of which the training program impacts late-stage care. Primary commercialization will concentrate on marketing efforts with the national office of the Alzheimer's Association (see letter of support) and publishers of interactive health-related content on the Internet. Since nursing home administrators highly value the care of these late-stage residents, and since very little (even in written form) exists to help family caregivers, this innovative, video-based interactive training should prove to be easily marketed to a variety of customers. This Phase I submission is strengthened by multiple letters of support, the involvement of professional focus groups, the expertise of a National Advisory Board to guide the development process, and the agreement by the National Alzheimer's Association to market the resulting product.