MEMORI Corps: Activity-Based Companion Care for People With Dementia

What Is This Study About?

MEMORI Corps is an individualized, activity-based companion care program for people with dementia living at home with their family caregivers. This study will evaluate the feasibility and effects of the MEMORI Corps program to reduce behavioral symptoms in people with dementia, improve caregiver well-being, and provide MEMORI Corps older adult volunteers with meaningful engagement through the programs peer support volunteer opportunities. Following a home-based assessment with the person with dementia and their caregiver, an individualized activity program plan is developed based on the interests and abilities of the person with dementia. In addition, MEMORI Corps older adult volunteers provide peer-to-peer companionship and supervise the in-home activity program with the person with dementia for eight hours each week for 12 weeks. Participants with dementia and their caregivers will be randomly assigned to either begin the program right away or to a waitlist group that will receive educational materials, check-in calls from the studys clinical team every other week, and complete the program at a later time. MEMORI Corps peer volunteers will also be randomly assigned to either begin the program right away to engage three families for one year, or to a waitlist group. Researchers will use questionnaires and interviews at the start of the study, after six months, and after one year to measure the programs effects on the quality of life of the person with dementia, as well as caregiver burden and depression. In addition, researchers will assess any changes in the physical function, cognition, and social and psychological engagement of the MEMORI Corps volunteers. The acceptability and feasibility of the MEMORI Corps program will also be evaluated from all participants perspectives.

Do I Qualify To Participate in This Study?

Must have:

Participants With Dementia:

• Diagnosis of dementia with a Clinical Dementia Rating Scale score of > 0.5
• Able to participate in at least two basic activities of daily living (e.g., bathing, dressing, getting in and out of bed or a chair, maintaining a safe environment)
• Living at home in Baltimore City or Baltimore County
• Speak English

Caregivers:

• Reliable, unpaid caregiver
• Live with the person with dementia
• Assist the person with dementia with some activities of daily living (e.g., bathing, dressing, getting in and out of bed or a chair, maintaining a safe environment
• Speak English

MEMORI Corps Volunteer Facilitators:

• Able to read
• Able to pass a criminal background check, as well as drug and physical and mental health screening
• Reliable transportation and able to travel within 20 miles of home
• Mini-Mental State Examination score of 24 or above
• Good visual attention and ability to switch tasks easily, based on screening test results
• Able to participate in all study activities for up to one year (10 hours each week excluding travel time)
• Speak English
• 55 years of age or older

Must NOT have:

Participants with dementia:

• In a crisis or unsafe situation at the start of the study
• Planned move from home to a care facility in the next six months
• In the end stages of dementia (e.g., bed-bound, unable to communicate, hospice)
• Received formal respite care (e.g., in-home companion care, adult day center) within four weeks prior to study screening
• Urine or bowel incontinence
• Severe behavioral symptoms that could cause harm to self or others
• Currently enrolled in a dementia-related clinical trial

Caregivers:

• Plans to no longer live with the person with dementia in the next six months
• Current participation in another behavior- or education-based clinical trial

MEMORI Corps Volunteer Facilitators:

• Plans to move from the area in the next year

If I Qualify, Who Do I Contact?

Contact study personnel listed either under the general study contact or the location nearest you.

 

Where Is This Study Located?

Maryland
Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD 21205 Recruiting Morgan Spliedt, MS 410-550-6744 memoricorps@jhmi.edu

Who Sponsors This Study?

Lead: Johns Hopkins University

Collaborator Sponsor

• Alzheimer's Association
• National Institute on Aging (NIA)

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT03896711