Comparative Effectiveness of Dementia Care Strategies in Underserved Communities
Comparative Effectiveness of Dementia Care Strategies in Underserved Communities
Dementia is a condition that is growing in prevalence and which harms not only the afflicted
 individual but also adversely affects the health of their family and other informal
 caregivers. New methods for delivering comprehensive assistance to persons with dementia and
 their caregivers are known to be effective and can delay nursing home placement, but this
 study will discover 1) whether more face-to-face involvement rather than telephone delivery
 of this assistance will work better among poor patients in Los Angeles, and 2) if one method
 is better than the other, what are the differences in costs between them. These data will
 enable administrators in public health care settings around the US and non-profit foundations
 addressing dementia patient and caregiver needs to decide what method provides the best value
 and the best outcome relative to its cost.
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  Caregivers of persons with dementia

 -  Caregivers must either live with the care recipient (person with dementia) or be the
 identified primary support

 -  Caregiver relationship must have been present for the prior 6 months

 -  Caregivers must have telephone access

 -  Caregivers must speak English or Spanish

 -  Care recipients must have a prior dementia diagnosis

 -  Care recipients must be living in the community other than a nursing facility

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  Persons with dementia, lacking an informal caregiver who can communicate in Spanish or
 English, or living in a long term care facility

 -  Caregiver lacks the capacity to consent to study participation