Web-Based Education Program for Care Partners of People Living With Dementia (iGeriCare): Protocol for a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial
BackgroundThe prevalence of dementia is increasing in Canada and in many countries internationally. People living with dementia are highly dependent on family and friend care partners, who may have little knowledge of the disorder. Web-based interventions in dementia have bee...
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JMIR Publications
2025-06-01
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| Series: | JMIR Research Protocols |
| Online Access: | https://www.researchprotocols.org/2025/1/e67048 |
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| author | Anthony J Levinson Stephanie Ayers Sandra Clark Rebekah Woodburn Maureen Markle-Reid Brian McKenna Doug Oliver Alexandra Papaioannou Henry Siu Richard Sztramko |
| author_facet | Anthony J Levinson Stephanie Ayers Sandra Clark Rebekah Woodburn Maureen Markle-Reid Brian McKenna Doug Oliver Alexandra Papaioannou Henry Siu Richard Sztramko |
| author_sort | Anthony J Levinson |
| collection | DOAJ |
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BackgroundThe prevalence of dementia is increasing in Canada and in many countries internationally. People living with dementia are highly dependent on family and friend care partners, who may have little knowledge of the disorder. Web-based interventions in dementia have been shown to improve care partner mental health and reduce burden, but few have been widely implemented or rigorously studied. We developed a web- and email-based dementia education platform for care partners, iGeriCare, which includes 12 asynchronous, multimedia, e-learning lessons and email-based content to reinforce the learning.
ObjectiveThe primary objective of this pilot study is to evaluate the feasibility and care partner acceptance of the intervention, including study methods. Secondary objectives will examine the effectiveness of the educational resources on family care partners’ knowledge, self-efficacy, and sense of burden.
MethodsThis study is a 2-arm, pilot, feasibility, randomized controlled trial. A total of 125 family or friend care partners for a person living with dementia—who are residing in Canada, aged 16+ years, and comfortable using the internet and email—will be recruited using coinvestigator networks and Facebook digital marketing advertisements. Participants will be randomly assigned to either the intervention group (receiving the dementia web- and email-based educational intervention) or the control group (receiving an alternate topic e-learning lesson and emails) and will have 8 weeks to complete baseline surveys and the assigned e-learning. After 8 weeks, participants will have 2 weeks to complete poststudy surveys. This protocol will be repeated with a second cohort of 100 care partners recruited from a paid panel service based on learnings from initial feasibility results.
ResultsInitial recruitment began on September 6, 2022, and concluded on October 2, 2022. A total of 125 participants were randomly assigned to the intervention (n=61) or control (n=64) group. Data collection concluded in January 2023. Preliminary feasibility results showed a substantial number of participants who did not engage with the protocol as intended. A decision was made to recruit a second cohort of participants to address these protocol deviations. Secondary recruitment began on June 12, 2023, and concluded on June 27, 2023. A total of 100 participants were randomly assigned to the intervention (n=53) or control (n=47) group. Data collection concluded in September 2023. Further results will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at conferences.
ConclusionsThis study is investigating the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of a web- and email-based dementia care partner educational intervention. The results of this study will contribute to the planning of a larger randomized controlled trial in the future, as well as the evaluation of innovative, cost-effective, and efficient dementia care partner resources that can complement traditional approaches.
Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT05114187; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05114187
International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)DERR1-10.2196/67048 |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-650ddf5fa5464f949b64184c16980e68 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1929-0748 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | JMIR Publications |
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| series | JMIR Research Protocols |
| spelling | doaj-art-650ddf5fa5464f949b64184c16980e682025-08-20T03:07:50ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR Research Protocols1929-07482025-06-0114e6704810.2196/67048Web-Based Education Program for Care Partners of People Living With Dementia (iGeriCare): Protocol for a Pilot Randomized Controlled TrialAnthony J Levinsonhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-5240-6449Stephanie Ayershttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1979-6227Sandra Clarkhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-3401-5556Rebekah Woodburnhttps://orcid.org/0009-0000-1589-800XMaureen Markle-Reidhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-4019-7077Brian McKennahttps://orcid.org/0009-0007-7972-4181Doug Oliverhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-3099-6198Alexandra Papaioannouhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-9412-0932Henry Siuhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1593-6827Richard Sztramkohttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-4140-4218 BackgroundThe prevalence of dementia is increasing in Canada and in many countries internationally. People living with dementia are highly dependent on family and friend care partners, who may have little knowledge of the disorder. Web-based interventions in dementia have been shown to improve care partner mental health and reduce burden, but few have been widely implemented or rigorously studied. We developed a web- and email-based dementia education platform for care partners, iGeriCare, which includes 12 asynchronous, multimedia, e-learning lessons and email-based content to reinforce the learning. ObjectiveThe primary objective of this pilot study is to evaluate the feasibility and care partner acceptance of the intervention, including study methods. Secondary objectives will examine the effectiveness of the educational resources on family care partners’ knowledge, self-efficacy, and sense of burden. MethodsThis study is a 2-arm, pilot, feasibility, randomized controlled trial. A total of 125 family or friend care partners for a person living with dementia—who are residing in Canada, aged 16+ years, and comfortable using the internet and email—will be recruited using coinvestigator networks and Facebook digital marketing advertisements. Participants will be randomly assigned to either the intervention group (receiving the dementia web- and email-based educational intervention) or the control group (receiving an alternate topic e-learning lesson and emails) and will have 8 weeks to complete baseline surveys and the assigned e-learning. After 8 weeks, participants will have 2 weeks to complete poststudy surveys. This protocol will be repeated with a second cohort of 100 care partners recruited from a paid panel service based on learnings from initial feasibility results. ResultsInitial recruitment began on September 6, 2022, and concluded on October 2, 2022. A total of 125 participants were randomly assigned to the intervention (n=61) or control (n=64) group. Data collection concluded in January 2023. Preliminary feasibility results showed a substantial number of participants who did not engage with the protocol as intended. A decision was made to recruit a second cohort of participants to address these protocol deviations. Secondary recruitment began on June 12, 2023, and concluded on June 27, 2023. A total of 100 participants were randomly assigned to the intervention (n=53) or control (n=47) group. Data collection concluded in September 2023. Further results will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at conferences. ConclusionsThis study is investigating the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of a web- and email-based dementia care partner educational intervention. The results of this study will contribute to the planning of a larger randomized controlled trial in the future, as well as the evaluation of innovative, cost-effective, and efficient dementia care partner resources that can complement traditional approaches. Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT05114187; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05114187 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)DERR1-10.2196/67048https://www.researchprotocols.org/2025/1/e67048 |
| spellingShingle | Anthony J Levinson Stephanie Ayers Sandra Clark Rebekah Woodburn Maureen Markle-Reid Brian McKenna Doug Oliver Alexandra Papaioannou Henry Siu Richard Sztramko Web-Based Education Program for Care Partners of People Living With Dementia (iGeriCare): Protocol for a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial JMIR Research Protocols |
| title | Web-Based Education Program for Care Partners of People Living With Dementia (iGeriCare): Protocol for a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial |
| title_full | Web-Based Education Program for Care Partners of People Living With Dementia (iGeriCare): Protocol for a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial |
| title_fullStr | Web-Based Education Program for Care Partners of People Living With Dementia (iGeriCare): Protocol for a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial |
| title_full_unstemmed | Web-Based Education Program for Care Partners of People Living With Dementia (iGeriCare): Protocol for a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial |
| title_short | Web-Based Education Program for Care Partners of People Living With Dementia (iGeriCare): Protocol for a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial |
| title_sort | web based education program for care partners of people living with dementia igericare protocol for a pilot randomized controlled trial |
| url | https://www.researchprotocols.org/2025/1/e67048 |
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