An interventional study of Care Partner Hospital Assessment Tool in Alzheimer Disease and Dementia, sponsored by University of Wisconsin, Madison. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-08-14.
Sponsored by University of Wisconsin, Madison · Not applicable, Interventional, and Supportive care
The purpose of this study is to see whether an adapted questionnaire called the Care Partner Hospital Assessment Tool (CHAT) for care partners of hospitalized patients living with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) (CHAT-AD) can help people with dementia receive better care after they go home from the hospital. Participants will be a care partner ('family member or friend') who provides unpaid care to a hospitalized adult relative or partner to help them take care of themselves because of dementia. Participants can expect to be in this study for 14 days.
The purpose of this study is to adapt CHAT for care partners of hospitalized patients living with ADRD (CHAT-AD) and evaluate its feasibility and potential efficacy in a pilot randomized clinical trial. Findings from this study will enable the lead researcher to launch an independent program of research that aims to (1) improve hospital-based care processes and outcomes for patients living with ADRD and their care partners, and (2) make clear the essential caregiving role that so many care partners of patients living with ADRD assume.
In order to adapt CHAT, there will be two design teams with key stakeholders from local aging networks and a large academic medical system: one team comprised of previously hospitalized patients living with ADRD and their care partners (N=7 dyads) and the second comprised of healthcare system administrators and clinicians (N=7). The team will use a validated participatory human-centered design process in which each team completes 5 co-design videoconference sessions that occur in parallel across 4 months, with 2-3 weeks between each session.
Upon adaptation of the CHAT-AD, the study team will partner with a medical and surgical units that are part of a large academic medical system to recruit 128 eligible care partners of hospitalized patients living with ADRD, randomized into either the CHAT-AD plus usual care or usual care-only groups. The team will assess feasibility by examining overall recruitment, attrition, safety, adherence, and implementation satisfaction. To examine efficacy, a validated measure of caregiving preparedness will be obtained pre- and post-intervention.
3,678 studies on the registry are indexed under Alzheimer Disease; 872 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 128 is above the median of 70 across 2,808 interventional studies indexed under Alzheimer Disease.
Browse Alzheimer Disease studies →University of Wisconsin, Madison is the lead sponsor of 1,161 studies on the registry; 182 are open to participants now.
Of its 151 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 114 (75%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Exclusion Criteria:
Participants in this arm will only receive standard of care.
Using CHAT, participants will be asked questions about their needs to fully support and care for their loved one after the loved one is released from the hospital.
Behavioral: Care Partner Hospital Assessment Tool
Complete the adjusted CHAT as well as demographic and caregiving questionnaires during and after loved one's hospitalization.
Change in Preparedness for Caregiving
Using the Preparedness for Caregiving Scale, which is a self-rated assessment that consists of eight items that asks care partners how well prepared they believe they are for multiple domains of caregiving, change in preparedness will be measured. Preparedness is defined as perceived readiness for multiple domains of the caregiving role such as providing physical care, providing emotional support, setting up in-home support services, and dealing with the stress of caregiving. Responses are rated on a 5-point scale with scores ranging from 0 (not at all prepared) to 4 (very well prepared). The scale is scored by calculating the mean of all items answered with a score range of 0 to 4. The higher the score the more prepared the care partner feels for caregiving.
Time frame: Baseline to 72 hours post-discharge
Care partner satisfaction of care
The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) is a 29-item survey that asks discharged patients about their recent hospital stay. The study team will modify and use three items from this survey to capture care partner satisfaction of care. These items are rated on a 4-point case from 1 (definitely no or strongly disagree) to 4 (definitely yes or strongly agree), with higher scores representing more care partner satisfaction with care.
Time frame: 72 hours post-discharge
Feasibility measure: Time to complete assessments and CHAT-AD
The actual amount of time taken to complete the assessments and CHAT-AD will be recorded in study records.
Time frame: Baseline
Qualitative Feasibility measure: Adherence
Participants will self-report the reasons for not having followed the CHAT-AD protocol.
Time frame: 72 hours post-discharge
Change in care partner burden
The Zarit Burden Interview is a self-rated assessment that consists of 22 items that asks care partners about their burden related to the care they provide a relative. Responses are rated on a 5-point scale with scores ranging from 0 (never) to 4 (nearly always). The Zarit Burden Interview score is obtained by adding the score for each question (total points). The higher the score the more burden the care partner feels.
Time frame: Baseline to 72 hours post-discharge
Change in care partner depression
The Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2) is a self-rated assessments that consists of 2 items that asks care partners about the frequency of depressed mood and anhedonia over the past two weeks. Responses are rated on a 4-point scale with scores ranging from 0 (not at all) to 3 (nearly every day). The PHQ-2 score is obtained by adding the score for each question (total points). The higher the score the more depressed the care partner feels. A score of 3 can be used as the cutpoint when screening for depression.
Time frame: Baseline to 72 hours post-discharge
Feasibility measure: Implementation satisfaction
Clinician questionnaire composed of 5 Likert questions (scale of 1-5) as well as open-ended questions. A higher number on the Likert scale indicates higher satisfaction.
Time frame: 72 hours post-discharge
Post-treatment Qualitative Interviews: Attrition
Qualitative analysis will proceed concurrently with data collection to allow identified themes related to attrition to be explored in subsequent interviews. All team members will analyze the data and look for themes and trends that are emergent from the data.
Time frame: 72 hours post-discharge
Plan to share: No
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University of Wisconsin, Madison