A dyadic advance care planning intervention for people with early-stage dementia and their family caregivers in a community care setting: a feasibility trial

Abstract Background Advance care planning (ACP) is highly relevant for people with early-stage dementia to communicate their care preferences for serious illness conditions with their family caregivers before they become mentally incapacitated. Methods A multi-centre, quasi-experimental study was co...

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Main Authors: Cheryl Chi-yan Yeung, Ken Hok-man Ho, Helen Yue-lai Chan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2023-03-01
Series:BMC Geriatrics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-023-03815-3
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author Cheryl Chi-yan Yeung
Ken Hok-man Ho
Helen Yue-lai Chan
author_facet Cheryl Chi-yan Yeung
Ken Hok-man Ho
Helen Yue-lai Chan
author_sort Cheryl Chi-yan Yeung
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background Advance care planning (ACP) is highly relevant for people with early-stage dementia to communicate their care preferences for serious illness conditions with their family caregivers before they become mentally incapacitated. Methods A multi-centre, quasi-experimental study was conducted to test the feasibility and acceptability of a theory-guided, dyadic ACP intervention (‘Have a Say’ programme) among participants with early-stage dementia–family caregiver dyads. The feasibility of the trial design, intervention procedures, subject recruitment and retention, and study instruments were assessed. Study outcomes were measured at baseline (T0), immediately after the intervention (T1), and at 1 month (T2) and 3 months post-intervention (T3). Acceptability of the intervention was determined by the satisfaction score, completion rate and qualitative interviews as process evaluation with a purposive sample of participants and ACP facilitators. Generalised estimating equations were performed to examine differential changes between groups over time, with covariates adjusted. Results Subject recruitment from five elderly community centres yielded a recruitment rate of 60% and resulted in 36 client–caregiver dyads. The intervention was acceptable to the dyads, with a mean satisfaction score of 4.4 out of 5 and completion rate of 94.4%. The attrition rates at T1, T2, and T3 were 8.3%, 13.9%, and 19.4%, respectively. The intervention group reported a significantly greater improvement in the readiness for ACP at T1, self-efficacy for ACP at T3, and dyadic concordance on end-of-life care preferences at all time points than the control group, but not on depressive symptoms. Family caregivers in the intervention group reported a significantly higher caregiving burden at T2 than the control group. The qualitative findings revealed that triadic involvement of and trusting relationships among the dyads and ACP facilitators, and documentation of clients’ views are the programme strengths, while the structured format and discussion about medical issues posed implementation challenges. Conclusions This ACP intervention and trial design were feasible and acceptable to the dyads. Several refinements were identified, including adding a nurse-led group-based session for information giving, allowing flexibility in arrangement, and adding measure of ACP engagement of family caregivers. A rigorous trial to test the effects of the ACP intervention is warranted. Trial registration Retrospectively registered on 14/08/2020 at clinicaltrials.gov (Identifier: NCT04513106).
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spelling doaj.art-2c844cc5bcc744f2b8d958c2f88a2bb02023-03-22T12:19:00ZengBMCBMC Geriatrics1471-23182023-03-0123111610.1186/s12877-023-03815-3A dyadic advance care planning intervention for people with early-stage dementia and their family caregivers in a community care setting: a feasibility trialCheryl Chi-yan Yeung0Ken Hok-man Ho1Helen Yue-lai Chan2The Nethersole School of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong KongThe Nethersole School of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong KongThe Nethersole School of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong KongAbstract Background Advance care planning (ACP) is highly relevant for people with early-stage dementia to communicate their care preferences for serious illness conditions with their family caregivers before they become mentally incapacitated. Methods A multi-centre, quasi-experimental study was conducted to test the feasibility and acceptability of a theory-guided, dyadic ACP intervention (‘Have a Say’ programme) among participants with early-stage dementia–family caregiver dyads. The feasibility of the trial design, intervention procedures, subject recruitment and retention, and study instruments were assessed. Study outcomes were measured at baseline (T0), immediately after the intervention (T1), and at 1 month (T2) and 3 months post-intervention (T3). Acceptability of the intervention was determined by the satisfaction score, completion rate and qualitative interviews as process evaluation with a purposive sample of participants and ACP facilitators. Generalised estimating equations were performed to examine differential changes between groups over time, with covariates adjusted. Results Subject recruitment from five elderly community centres yielded a recruitment rate of 60% and resulted in 36 client–caregiver dyads. The intervention was acceptable to the dyads, with a mean satisfaction score of 4.4 out of 5 and completion rate of 94.4%. The attrition rates at T1, T2, and T3 were 8.3%, 13.9%, and 19.4%, respectively. The intervention group reported a significantly greater improvement in the readiness for ACP at T1, self-efficacy for ACP at T3, and dyadic concordance on end-of-life care preferences at all time points than the control group, but not on depressive symptoms. Family caregivers in the intervention group reported a significantly higher caregiving burden at T2 than the control group. The qualitative findings revealed that triadic involvement of and trusting relationships among the dyads and ACP facilitators, and documentation of clients’ views are the programme strengths, while the structured format and discussion about medical issues posed implementation challenges. Conclusions This ACP intervention and trial design were feasible and acceptable to the dyads. Several refinements were identified, including adding a nurse-led group-based session for information giving, allowing flexibility in arrangement, and adding measure of ACP engagement of family caregivers. A rigorous trial to test the effects of the ACP intervention is warranted. Trial registration Retrospectively registered on 14/08/2020 at clinicaltrials.gov (Identifier: NCT04513106).https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-023-03815-3Advance care planningEarly-stage dementiaFeasibilityDyadic
spellingShingle Cheryl Chi-yan Yeung
Ken Hok-man Ho
Helen Yue-lai Chan
A dyadic advance care planning intervention for people with early-stage dementia and their family caregivers in a community care setting: a feasibility trial
BMC Geriatrics
Advance care planning
Early-stage dementia
Feasibility
Dyadic
title A dyadic advance care planning intervention for people with early-stage dementia and their family caregivers in a community care setting: a feasibility trial
title_full A dyadic advance care planning intervention for people with early-stage dementia and their family caregivers in a community care setting: a feasibility trial
title_fullStr A dyadic advance care planning intervention for people with early-stage dementia and their family caregivers in a community care setting: a feasibility trial
title_full_unstemmed A dyadic advance care planning intervention for people with early-stage dementia and their family caregivers in a community care setting: a feasibility trial
title_short A dyadic advance care planning intervention for people with early-stage dementia and their family caregivers in a community care setting: a feasibility trial
title_sort dyadic advance care planning intervention for people with early stage dementia and their family caregivers in a community care setting a feasibility trial
topic Advance care planning
Early-stage dementia
Feasibility
Dyadic
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-023-03815-3
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