External Resource

IMPACT community members seek improvements in post-acute care in SNFs

Posted on by Erin Luers

IMPACT community members, Joan Carpenter, PhD, CRNP, Nancy Hodgson, PhD, RN, and Laura  Hanson, MD, MPH share the results of their recent pilot pragmatic trial which was supported by the National Institute of Nursing Research of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number K23NR017663 and the Rita & Alex Hillman Foundation, New York.

The trial explores the feasibility of implementing a palliative care intervention during post-acute care to improve outcomes and reduce the need for rehospitalizations.

The two-group, multisite feasibility pilot pragmatic clinical trial, which was conducted at 12 SNFs co-located in continuing care retirement communities in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic United States, evaluated the feasibility of implementing the primary palliative care in post-acute care (PPC-PAC) intervention in the post-acute care skilled nursing facility (SNF) setting.

Implementation of the PPC-PAC intervention proved feasible and acceptable among older adults and clinicians. Future research is needed to focus on testing the effectiveness of PPC-PAC and explore strategies for optimal intervention implementation and SNF staff engagement.

Read the full article here.

NORC Dementia DataHub

Posted on by Erin Luers

Button to access NORC Dementia DataHub

The Dementia DataHub (R01 AG075730), created by NORC at the University of Chicago, provides interactive dashboards and maps to view dementia diagnoses among Medicare beneficiaries, with results available at the national, state, and county levels. NORC Dementia DataHub uses the term “dementia” to refer broadly to Alzheimer’s disease dementia and Alzheimer’s disease related dementias (AD/ADRD) and other diagnoses that are sometimes used to indicate these conditions.

 

NIA Outreach Pro: Building Better AD/ADRD Clinical Trial Outreach Materials

Posted on by Erin Luers

The National Institute on Aging developed OutreachPro to help researchers create customized outreach materials for clinical trials on Alzheimer’s and related dementias. Choose from a suite of audience-specific images, headlines and text, available in multiple languages and tested for maximum recruiting impact. Then add your own content, apply your own logo, and brand colors. Watch the video to the right for an overview of how to use OutreachPro.

Bynum and team publish findings from research into geographic disparities in Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis

Posted on by Erin Luers

Congratulations to Julie Bynum, MD, MPH from the University of Michigan‘s Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation and the team for their newest research findings reflecting the disparities in Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis based on geographic location!

Highlights from the research:

  • The rate of new Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) case identification varies geographically across the United States.
  • Variation in case identification is greatest in Black, Hispanic, and young-old groups.
  • Intensity of diagnosis (i.e., case identification) unrelated to population risk differs across place.
  • Likelihood of receiving an ADRD diagnosis varies 2-fold based on place of residence.

Read the full article to learn more about their insightful findings: https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.14092

IMPACT authors publish commentary on medical therapies in nursing homes

Posted on by Jeannine Sato

IMPACT members Kathleen Unroe, MD, MHA, MS, Debra Saliba, MD, MPH, Sheryl Zimmerman, PhD and Jerry Gurwitz, MD, contribute commentary in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society citing IMPACT and the Long Term Data Cooperative as National Institute on Aging (NIA) initiatives that provide foundational work addressing the identification and capture of important clinical outcomes, laying the groundwork for a nursing home clinical trials network. The commentary is based on the article Evaluation of medical therapies in the nursing home population: Gaps, challenges, and next steps.

Read the full commentary.

Study shows how music can improve verbal agitation behaviors of nursing home residents with dementia

Posted on by Jeannine Sato

IMPACT multiple principal investigator Vince Mor, PhD, and members Roee Gutman, PhD, James Rudolph, MD, SM, Rosa Baier, MPH and executive committee member, Ellen McCreedy, PhD, are among authors sharing observed effects of music on nursing home residents with dementia. In a randomized controlled trial, patients were observed to express more pleasure and fewer signs of verbal agitation. The authors conclude that non-pharmacological interventions like personalized music exposure can temporarily relieve agitated behaviors of people living with dementia in a nursing home setting.

Read the full article.

NIH Collaboratory workshop recordings on ePCT’s effects on healthcare systems now available

Posted on by Jeannine Sato

Multiple principal investigator Vince Mor, PhD was part of an NIH Collaboratory workshop entitled “Getting the Right Evidence to Decision-Makers Faster” held June 20-21, 2023. Mor was part of a panel of experts addressing “How Have Health Systems Made Decisions Based on Evidence Collected in PCTs?”

The 2-day workshop explored how researchers share evidence with healthcare system decision-makers to implement the findings of pragmatic clinical trials conducted within healthcare systems.

To access the workshop summary, materials and recordings, visit the NIH Collaboratory website.

CICADA RFA Penn’s Center for Improving Care Delivery for the Aging (CICADA) is seeking applications for the 2024-2025 cohort of CICADA Scientists.

Posted on by Jeannine Sato

Penn’s Center for Improving Care Delivery for the Aging (CICADA) is seeking applications for the 2024-2025 cohort of CICADA Scientists. In collaboration with Penn’s Leonard Davis Institute for Health Economics (LDI), CICADA seeks to enhance the diversity of the aging research workforce by mentoring promising scientists from under-represented backgrounds interested in a career focused on improving health equity and health care delivery for older adults.

The deadline for submitting applications is 8:00 a.m. ET on January 8, 2024.

To review the full request for applications, including available resources, review criteria, and the application timeline, please click here.

For application questions, please contact CICADA@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.

Observing the impact of personalized music on agitated behaviors in dementia patients

Posted on by Jeannine Sato

Using Structured Observations to Evaluate the Effects of a Personalized Music Intervention on Agitated Behaviors and Mood in Nursing Home Residents With Dementia: Results From an Embedded, Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial

November 2, 2023

Authors, including IMPACT members, Roee Gutman, PhD, Vincent Mor, PhD, James Rudolph, MD, SM, Rosa Baier, MPH, and Ellen McCreedy, PhD, MPH explored whether implementation of a personalized music intervention decreased the frequency of agitated behaviors in nursing home residents with dementia. They measured impact by using structured observations conducted as part of a randomized controlled trial design.

The authors found that personalized music decreased the frequency of verbally agitated behaviors in residents randomized to receive the treatment compared to residents randomized to a usual care control. No effect of the intervention was found on physically agitated behaviors. The intervention also increased observed pleasure.

This study provides evidence for the effectiveness of a non-pharmacological intervention for temporary relief in verbal behaviors in nursing home residents with dementia.

Read the full article.

American Journal of Bioethics publishes special issue, includes commentary on article by IMPACT member

Posted on by Jeannine Sato

July 14, 2023

A previously published article by IMPACT member Emily Largent, PhD, JD, RN, and Stephanie Morain, MD, was the subject of guest commentary in a special issue of The American Journal of Bioethics (AJOB). The special issue focused on pragmatic clinical trials (PCTs). In the issue, Largent and Morain’s target article exploring investigators’ ethical obligations to patients was discussed in several peer commentaries and by two guest editorials including one co-authored by Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Robert Califf, MD.

 

Access the special issue including all commentaries and the original target article.