Shared Decision Making to Improve Palliative Care in the Nursing Home

Completed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Pain

In brief

Twenty-eight percent of Americans over the age of 65 die in a nursing home. Research has found the quality of care of end-of-life care in nursing homes to have many challenges. It has also been documented that family members, especially those living at a distance, want to be involved in the care of their resident and family support can be beneficial to residents. Family members' involvement in decision-making in the nursing home setting improves outcomes for residents with life-limiting illnesses. Shared decision-making (SDM) is a process wherein a healthcare choice is jointly made by a healthcare provider and a resident or resident's proxy, often a family member. This proposal seeks to facilitate SDM among family members, residents with life-limiting illnesses (who are not enrolled in hospice), and the nursing home care team. The overall research question (RQ) asks: To what extent are outcomes for family member and residents with life limiting illnesses associated with SDM via web-conferencing in the nursing home? The overall hypothesis (H) is that SDM among family members, residents (when possible), and skilled nursing home staff via web-conferencing will improve outcomes for family members and residents with life-limiting illnesses. This is an exploratory mixed methods randomized clinical trial pilot to test the effect of shared decision making using web-based conferencing on the depression and burden of family members and the pain of nursing home residents.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT02917603

Run by

Washington University School of Medicine

People needed

40

Starts

2016-09-01

Expected to finish

2018-03-31

Last updated by the study team

2021-01-20

Who can join

Age: 65 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Residents: Residents of The Bluffs nursing home, Columbia Missouri, over the age of 65, have at least one family member who agrees to participate, and have a serious life limiting illness. Residents enrolled in hospice or admitted to post hospital short term nursing home stay are excluded from participation.
• Family Members: Identified family member by a resident or nursing home staff at The Bluffs, over the age of 18, without cognitive impairment, and with access to a computer, tablet, or smartphone device.

You may not qualify if…

• Residents enrolled in hospice can not participate.

Where it is running

• The Bluffs — Columbia, Missouri, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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