Crisis support models like the Bridge project reduce strain on care-delivery systems by incorporating nonpharmacological interventions, assisting families with communication, and reducing family distress during symptom crises. Although much of AD research focuses on disease-modifying medical interventions, aging and care systems in the state must simultaneously move towards dependency-modifying care interventions.

Technology provides new opportunities for interventions to improve quality and access to health care. This study evaluated a telehealth application to support family dementia caregivers providing homecare. We explored feasibility of in-home video monitoring and feedback to help caregivers and reduce caregiving burden. A caregiver-patient dyad was recruited from The University of Kansas Alzheimer’s Disease Center. The caregiver triggered video-recordings on a laptop computer using a remote control that also recorded 5 minutes prior to pressing “record.” Recordings were automatically uploaded via the Internet for interdisciplinary team review and feedback. Issues related to Internet transfer and storage of health information and computer security were addressed. Professionals reported the value of video-recordings for identifying antecedents and evaluating caregiver responses. The caregiver reported improved communication and behavior management and ease of use. This study developed protocols, processes, and contractual arrangements and established the feasibility and benefits of home monitoring as a basis for ongoing research.

This study describes an evaluation of a community-based psychoeducational intervention, called The Family Series Workshop, for caregivers of community-dwelling persons with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias (ADRD). In a one-group pretest–posttest design, participants (n = 35) attended six weekly sessions. Caregiver stress, coping, and caregiving competence were evaluated along with demographic characteristics of participants. There was a significant improvement found for caregiving competence, and a marginally significant increase in coping with humor. Using regression analysis we also found that coping with humor, along with stress, were significant predictors of caregiving competence. These findings indicate that it is possible to increase caregiving competence utilizing a “grassroots” approach and that it is feasible to hold educational, group discussions on a plethora of challenging caregiving topics.

Replications of evidence-based dementia care receiver–caregiver dyad interventions in the community are scarce. We aimed to assess the effectiveness of the Kansas City implementation of Reducing Disability in Alzheimer’s Disease (RDAD) among a convenience sample of dyads with moderate dementia, which addressed needs identified by nine participating community agencies. We hypothesized that dyads’ mental health and physical activity outcomes would improve from baseline to end-of-treatment. The final analytic sample included 66 dyads. Outcomes improved ( p < .01) from pre- to post-intervention: behavioral symptom severity (range 0–36) decreased from 11.3 to 8.6, physical activity increased from 125.0 to 190.0 min/week, caregiver unmet needs (range 0–34) decreased from 10.6 to 5.6, caregiver behavioral symptom distress (0–60) decreased from 15.5 to 10.4, and caregiver strain (0–26) decreased from 11.1 to 9.7. This adapted implementation of RDAD leads to clinically meaningful improvements and might inform scaling-up.

Objectives: To describe the development of CuidaTEXT: a tailored text message intervention to support Latino dementia family caregivers. Methods: CuidaTEXT is informed by the Stress Process Framework and Social Cognitive Theory. We developed and refined CuidaTEXT using a mixed-method approach that included thematic analysis and descriptive statistics. We followed six user-centered design stages, including the selection of design principles, software vendor collaboration, evidence-based foundation, caregiver and research/clinical advisory board guidance, sketching and prototyping, and usability testing among five Latino caregivers. Results: CuidaTEXT is a bilingual 6-month long intervention tailored to caregiver needs that includes: 1) 1-3 daily automatic messages (n=244) about logistics, dementia education, self-care, social support, end-of-life, care of the person with dementia, behavioral symptoms and problem-solving strategies; 2) 783 keyword-driven text messages for further help with the above topics; 3) live chat interaction with a coach for further help; 4) a 19-page reference booklet summarizing the purpose and functions of the intervention. CuidaTEXT's prototype scored 97 out of 100 in the System Usability Scale. Conclusions: CuidaTEXT's prototype demonstrated high usability among Latino caregivers. CuidaTEXT's feasibility is ready to be tested.

Background Dementia impacts the mental health of individual‐caregiver dyads. Interventions such as Reducing Disability in Alzheimer’s Disease (RDAD) improve dyad mental health, but to implement it locally community agencies in Kansas City suggested three changes: 1) reduced reliance on licensed social workers, 2) centralized exercise interventionists and 3) more flexible delivery. We aimed to assess the effectiveness of the Kansas City RDAD implementation (RDAD‐KC), which addressed these three gaps. We hypothesized that dyads’ mental health would improve from baseline to the end of the intervention. Method This is a secondary‐analysis of an in‐home dementia support services quality improvement project amongst a collaborative of nine community agencies in the Kansas City region. Agencies administered RDAD‐KC to a non‐probabilistic sample of dyads they recruited in their service areas. Eligibility criteria included living in the community, having moderate dementia, with enough home space to exercise, ability to walk across the room with or without assistive devices and no physical activity restrictions. The original RDAD is a 12‐module dyad home‐based multicomponent intervention that focuses on exercise for people with dementia and coping with behavioral symptoms for caregivers. RDAD‐KC 1) allowed non‐licensed interventionists, 2) included exercise videos and contact of a centralized exercise team and 3) allowed fitting the intervention delivery to the dyads’ situation, needs, and time available. Data analyses included paired samples t‐tests. Final data analysis included those who had a family caregiver, no intellectual disability and completed nine of the 12 modules. Result Among the 157 screened dyads, 66 completed ≥9 modules. People with dementia were 77.4 years in average, 72.9% identified as White, 19.7% as Black, 17.0% rural and 71.2% had their partners as caregivers. All outcomes improved statistically (p<0.01) from pre to post‐intervention: Behavioral symptom severity (range 0‐36) decreased from 11.3 to 8.6, caregiver unmet needs (range 0‐34) decreased from 10.6 to 5.6, caregiver behavioral symptom distress (0‐60) decreased from 15.5 to 10.4 and caregiver strain (0‐26) decreased from 11.1 to 9.7. Conclusion A more flexible implementation of RDAD leads to clinically meaningful improvement of mental health outcomes among dyads. RDAD‐KC might inform the scaling‐up of RDAD in the region.

Background: Dementia has no cure, but interventions can stabilize the progression of cognitive, functional, and behavioral symptoms. Primary care providers (PCPs) are vital for the early detection, and long-term management of these diseases, given their gatekeeping role in the healthcare system. However, PCPs rarely implement evidence-based dementia care due to time limitations and knowledge about diagnosis and treatment. Training PCPs may help address these barriers. Objective: We explored the preferences of PCPs for dementia care training programs. Methods: We conducted qualitative interviews with 23 PCPs recruited nationally via snowball sampling. We conducted remote interviews and organized the transcripts for qualitative review to identify codes and themes, using thematic analysis methods. Results: PCP preferences varied regarding many aspects of ADRD training. Preferences varied regarding how to best increase PCP participation in training, and what content and materials were needed to help them and the families they serve. We also found differences regarding the duration and timing of training, and the modality of training sessions (remote versus in-person). Conclusion: The recommendations arising from these interviews have the potential to inform the development and refinement of dementia training programs to optimize their implementation and success.

Background: Optimal care can improve lives of families with dementia but remains under-implemented. Most healthcare professional training is in person, time-intensive, and does not focus on key aspects such as early detection, and cultural competency. Objective: We explored the acceptability and preliminary effectiveness of a training, The Dementia Update Course, which addressed these issues. We hypothesized that the training would lead to increased levels of perceived dementia care competency among key healthcare workers, namely primary care providers (PCPs) and health navigators (HNs). Methods: We conducted pre-post training assessments among 22 PCPs and 32 HNs. The 6.5-h training was remote, and included didactic lectures, case discussion techniques, and materials on dementia detection and care. Outcomes included two 5-point Likert scales on acceptability, eleven on perceived dementia care competency, and the three subscales of the General Practitioners Confidence and Attitude Scale for Dementia. We used paired samples t-tests to assess the mean differences in all preliminary effectiveness outcomes. Results: The training included 28.6% of PCPs and 15.6% of HNs that self-identified as non-White or Latino and 45.5% of PCPs and 21.9% of HNs who served in rural areas. PCPs (84.2%) and HNs (91.7%) reported a high likelihood to recommend the training and high satisfaction. Most preliminary effectiveness outcomes analyzed among PCPs (11/14) and all among HNs (8/8) experienced an improvement from pre- to post-training (p <  0.05). Conclusion: A relatively brief, remote, and inclusive dementia training was associated with high levels of acceptability and improvements in perceived dementia care competency among PCPs and HNs.