# Palliative Care for Persons with Late-stage Alzheimer's and Related Dementias and their Caregivers a Randomized Clinical Trial

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · 2022 · $257,704

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) affect 5.6 million Americans at an
annual cost of over $157 billion. Family caregivers experience extraordinary physical,
emotional and financial strain. People who identify as Hispanic / Latino are 1.5 times as likely
to develop ADRD. One in 3 Hispanic / Latino caregivers report that bias, poor information and
practical barriers limit access to specialty ADRD care. Hospitalizations for acute illnesses are
common in late-stage ADRD, and also present a unique opportunity for dementia-specific
palliative care to address suffering and reduce burdensome treatments, since 72% of hospitals
have palliative care teams. Evidence for dementia-specific palliative care is rare, and its
cultural adaptation to meet the needs of Hispanic / Latino families is a major research gap.
Our research team is conducting the ADRD-PC study (R01AG065394), a multi-site
Stage II efficacy clinical trial that is the first rigorous test of a dementia palliative care
intervention. People with late-stage dementia and their caregivers are enrolled during a
hospitalization for acute illness. Dyads are randomized to the ADRD-PC intervention (specialty
palliative care + structured caregiver education + transitional care) or control (educational
materials on dementia caregiving) arms and followed for 60-days post discharge. Enrollment
began in all sites in November 2021, and is on timeline. We are thus uniquely positioned to
leverage research infrastructure in a timely way to address this gap.
 Our research objective is to culturally tailor the ADRD-PC intervention, and conduct a
pilot feasibility clinical trial of the adapted ADRD-PC intervention for people with late-stage
ADRD who self-identify as Hispanic / Latino and their family caregivers. We will conduct
stakeholder-informed adaptation of study materials and processes (Aim 1), and enroll n=50
hospitalized dyads of Hispanic / Latino adults with late-stage ADRD and their family caregivers.
Our Specific Aims to achieve this objective are: Aim 1: To adapt and implement ADRD-PC
study materials that are culturally and linguistically appropriate for this population, guided by a
panel of Hispanic / Latino stakeholders. Aim 2: To determine the feasibility, acceptability and
preliminary efficacy of the ADRD-PC intervention for n= 50 Hispanic / Latino dyads living with
late-stage dementia in a pilot randomized clinical trial.
IMPACT: This supplement to the ADRD-PC clinical trial has the potential to positively impact
existing health disparities in ADRD care and research for people who identify as Hispanic /
Latino with late-stage dementia and their family caregivers.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10631651
- **Project number:** 3R01AG065394-03S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL
- **Principal Investigator:** LAURA C HANSON
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $257,704
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-09-10 → 2025-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10631651

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10631651, Palliative Care for Persons with Late-stage Alzheimer's and Related Dementias and their Caregivers a Randomized Clinical Trial (3R01AG065394-03S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10631651. Licensed CC0.

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