# Reducing Disability via a Family-centered Intervention for Acutely-ill Persons with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias

> **NIH NIH R01** · PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, THE · 2021 · $495,006

## Abstract

Abstract
Older persons with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) are about two times as likely to
be hospitalized as their peers who are cognitively healthy. The care of hospitalized persons with ADRD
has traditionally focused on the acute medical problem that led to admission with little attention paid to
functional recovery. Older persons with ADRD are at greater risk for functional decline and increased
care dependency after discharge due to a combination of intrinsic factors, environmental, policy, and
care practices that restrict physical and cognitive activity, and limited staff knowledge of dementia care.
Family caregivers (CGs) can play an important role in promoting the functional recovery of hospitalized
older adults. They can provide vital information, offer motivation and support of function-focused care,
and assume responsibility in varying degrees for post-acute care delivery and coordination. Family-
centered FFC (Fam-FFC) incorporates an educational empowerment model for family CGs provided
within a social-ecological in-patient framework promoting specialized care to patients with ADRD. The
intervention creates an “enabling” milieu for the person with ADRD through environmental and policy
assessment/modification, staff education, unit-based champions, and individualized goal setting that
focuses on functional recovery. In this patient/family-centered care approach, nurses purposefully
engage family CGs in the assessment, decision-making, care delivery and evaluation of function-
focused care during hospitalization and the 60-day post-acute period. In the proposed project, we will
implement Fam-FFC in a cluster randomized trial of 438 patient/CG dyads in six hospital units
randomized within three hospitals (73 dyads per unit) to accomplish the following aims: Aim 1: Validate
the efficacy of Fam-FFC on physical function (ADLs/ performance and physical activity), delirium
occurrence and severity, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and mood; Aim 2: Evaluate the impact of Fam-
FFC on family CG-centered outcomes (preparedness for caregiving, strain, burden, and desire to
institutionalize); and Aim 3: Evaluate the relative costs for Fam-FFC v. control condition, and calculate
health care cost (post-acute health care utilization) and total cost savings for Fam-FFC. Dyads will be
composed of community-residing, hospitalized medical patients with very mild to moderate dementia
(0.5 to 2.0 on the Clinical Dementia Rating Scale) and their CG (defined as the primary person providing
oversight and support on an ongoing basis). Outcomes will be evaluated at hospital admission,
discharge, two and six months post-discharge. This study will be a critical next step in delineating how
to partner with family CGs to change acute care approaches provided to patients with ADRD so as to
optimize function after discharge, and promote delirium abatement and well-being in these individuals.
The societal implications of helping older individuals with Alzh...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10131722
- **Project number:** 5R01AG054425-05
- **Recipient organization:** PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, THE
- **Principal Investigator:** Marie Boltz
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $495,006
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-05-01 → 2023-10-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10131722

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10131722, Reducing Disability via a Family-centered Intervention for Acutely-ill Persons with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (5R01AG054425-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10131722. Licensed CC0.

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