# The Residential Care Transition Module

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · 2020 · $262,509

## Abstract

Parent Study Abstract
Emerging research on family caregiving and institutionalization has found that families do not disengage from
care responsibilities following relatives’ admissions to residential long-term care settings. Families instead
remain involved in a spectrum of care activities ranging from instrumental activities of daily living to emotional
support. Perhaps for these reasons, a number of studies have noted that caregiving stress, depression, or
other key outcomes remain stable or sometimes increase following residential long-term care (RLTC) entry for
certain types of caregivers. A few interventions have attempted to increase family involvement after
institutionalization, but no rigorous studies have demonstrated that these interventions are effective in helping
families navigate transitions to RLTC environments.
The Residential Care Transition Module (RCTM) provides 6 formal sessions of consultation (one-to-one and
family sessions) over a 4-month period to those family caregivers who have admitted a relative to a RLTC
setting. In this randomized controlled trial, family members who have admitted a cognitively impaired relative to
a RLTC setting will be randomly assigned to the RCTM [(n = 120)] or a usual care control condition [(n = 120)].
A mixed methods analysis will be used to pursue the following aims: Specific Aim 1) Assess whether the
RCTM yields statistically significant reductions in family members’ primary subjective stress and negative
mental health outcomes; Specific Aim 2) Determine whether family members who receive the RCTM will
indicate statistically significant decreases in secondary role strains over a 12-month period when compared to
usual care controls; Specific Aim 3) Determine whether RCTM family members report statistically significant
decreases in residential care stress when compared to family members in the usual care control group; and
Specific Aim 4) Delineate the mechanism of action of RCTM under conditions of high and low success by
“embedding” qualitative components (30 semi-structured interviews) at the conclusion of the 12-month
evaluation. The proposed project will fill an important clinical and research gap by evaluating a psychosocial
intervention designed for families following RLTC placement that determines whether and how the RCTM can
help families better navigate the residential care transitions of cognitively impaired relatives.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10168229
- **Project number:** 3R01AG048931-05S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
- **Principal Investigator:** JOSEPH E. GAUGLER
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $262,509
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2016-06-01 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10168229

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10168229, The Residential Care Transition Module (3R01AG048931-05S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10168229. Licensed CC0.

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