Exploration of an Online Education Program to Support Caregivers' Knowledge Transfer

NCT07377331 | Recruiting Phase 1

• 1 other identifier: 2024-153-4
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 60
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 2

Brief Summary

The overarching goal of this work is to determine methods that improve caregiver education about the behavioral and psychological symptoms (BPSD) of dementia. The specific goal of this project is to extend our prior work to evaluate the impact of our educational intervention on caregivers' ability to transfer knowledge about the management of ADRD to real-world applied examples.

Conditions

Dementia

Keywords

dementia; caregiving; knowledge; transfer; behaviorial problems

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (4)

• Immediate near transfer test performance

  proportion correct on the immediate (approx. 10 min retention interval) test of near transfer. The test will include 48 questions and will be fill-in-the-blank format. Performance will be explored via percent correct on the test and magnitude of the retrieval practice effect on the test.

  10 minutes post-intervention (session 1)

• immediate applied transfer test performance

  proportion correct on the immediate (approx. 10 min retention interval) test to apply examples of symptoms of ADRD. The test will include 8 questions and be short-answer format. Performance will be explored via percent correct on the test and magnitude of the retrieval practice effect on the test.

  approx. 10 minutes post-intervention (session 1)

• Delayed Near Transfer test performance

  proportion correct on the final 2-day delayed test of near transfer. The test will include 48 questions and will be fill-in-the-blank format. Performance will be explored via percent correct on the test, magnitude of the retrieval practice effect on the test, and amount of forgetting.

  2 days post-intervention (session 2)

• Delayed Applied Transfer test performance

  proportion correct on the final 2-day delayed test of transfer to apply examples of symptoms of ADRD. The test will include 8 questions and be short-answer format. Performance will be explored via percent correct on the test, magnitude of the retrieval practice effect on the test, and amount of forgetting.

  2 days post-intervention (session 2)

Secondary Outcomes (8)

• Delayed knowledge test performance

  2 days post-intervention (session 2)

• Immediate knowledge test performance

  10 minutes post-intervention (session 1)

• Medical Health Knowledge

  2 days post-intervention (session 2)

• Demographic Characteristics

  Baseline and 2 days later

• Self-reported Subjective health information

  Baseline and 2 days later

Other Outcomes (1)

• Verification of Alzheimer's Disease or Related Dementia (ADRD)

  participant screening, pre-intervention

Study Arms (1)

Within-participant design with 2 learning conditions: intervention and reading control

EXPERIMENTAL

For each caregiver participant, half of the BPSD categories (i.e., 4) will be randomly assigned to the structured retrieval practice (SRP) intervention, and the other half will be randomly assigned to the restudy control condition.

Behavioral: Structured Retrieval Practice (SRP)

Interventions

Structured Retrieval Practice (SRP) BEHAVIORAL

Participants will complete self-paced practice tests for the 4 categories assigned to the SRP intervention. Specifically, the practice test will consist of 24 total questions: 6 multiple-choice questions for each of the 4-categories - 3 questions on triggers and 3 questions on symptom management. Each question will have 1 correct answer and 3 incorrect lures. The vertical order of responses on the screen will be randomized per participant. Questions will be presented in a blocked fashion such that participants will answer all 6 questions in one category (e.g., anxiety), in a random order, before moving to the next (e.g., hallucinations). After each multiple-choice answer, participants will receive detailed, corrective feedback. They will self-pace their study of feedback. Participants will complete 3 practice retrieval blocks.

Within-participant design with 2 learning conditions: intervention and reading control

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• informal caregivers
• + years old
• Read and speak English
• free of cognitive impairments that prevent consent and/or completing experimental tasks
• remote participants need access to a tablet, laptop, or desktop computer to complete tasks.

You may not qualify if:

• professional caregivers
• former caregivers who are not currently caring for someone living with dementia
• caregivers providing assistance to someone with normal cognition

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Texas Christian University: lead

Study Sites (2)

Texas Christian University

Fort Worth, Texas, 76129, United States

RECRUITING

Virginia Wesleyan University

Norfolk, Virginia, 23502, United States

NOT YET RECRUITING

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Dementia

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Neurocognitive Disorders; Mental Disorders

Central Study Contacts

Uma Tauber, PhD

CONTACT

817-257-4295; memorylab@tcu.edu

Robert Ariel, PhD

CONTACT

confidentcarestudy@gmail.com

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: phase 1
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Masking Details: Single-blind (outcome assessors blinded to condition assignment). Participants will be masked to study hypotheses, but may detect differences between the SRP and active control conditions during the learning phase.
• Purpose: SUPPORTIVE CARE
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor of Psychology

Model Details: Longitudinal, behavioral intervention, randomized controlled trial with crossover assignment to condition (SRP vs. Active Control Comparison). Individual-level random assignment will occur for order of the conditions.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 14, 2026
• First Posted: January 29, 2026
• Study Start: November 1, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): August 15, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): August 15, 2026
• Last Updated: January 29, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-01

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ICF, CSR, ANALYTIC CODE

Locations

US (2)