NCT01350349

Home-delivered Intervention for Depressed, Cognitively Impaired Elders

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 134 (actual)
• Sponsor: Weill Medical College of Cornell University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 65 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Among older adults the combination of depression, cognitive impairment (memory problems), and disability contribute to a worsening of physical and mental health and to poor treatment outcomes. Antidepressants help fewer than 40% of depressed elders with memory problems achieve remission from their depression. Interventions involving talking therapy are underdeveloped and understudied. Therefore, this research study will test the efficacy of Problem Adaptation Therapy (PATH), a new home-delivered psychosocial intervention for elders with major depression, memory problems, and disability. PATH focuses on the subject's "ecosystem" (the patient, the caregiver, and the home-environment) and targets behavioral problems related to both depression and disability. PATH is delivered in a subject's home, where cognitively impaired, disabled elders face most of their difficulties. Local Home Delivered Meals programs will refer clients who have symptoms of depression and are interested in research. All participants will have an available caregiver (family, significant other, or professional) and will be randomized to 12 weekly sessions of PATH or Supportive Therapy, the current standard of care for talking therapy. The study will test whether home-delivered PATH is more effective than home-delivered Supportive Therapy in reducing the subjects' depression and disability and in increasing self-efficacy over the 12-week treatment period.

Detailed description

Depression, cognitive impairment and disability often coexist in older adults and contribute to medical and psychiatric morbidity and mortality. We developed and propose to test the efficacy of a new psychosocial intervention, Problem Adaptation Therapy (PATH), for patients with major depression, cognitive impairment (up to the level of mild to moderate dementia) and disability. The proposed R01 study meets a critical need of this population, i.e. a treatment alternative for patients in whom antidepressants may have limited efficacy and for whom psychosocial interventions are underdeveloped and understudied. The principal innovation of PATH is its personalized approach focusing on the patient's ecosystem (i.e. the patient, the caregiver, and the home-environment) and targeting behavioral problems related to both depression and disability. PATH is delivered at the patients' home, teaches the patient-caregiver dyad problem-solving skills, and incorporates environmental adaptations (including notes, signs, reminders, calendars, voice alarms) to improve the patient's functioning.

Conditions

• Depression
• Dementia
• Geriatrics

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Problem Adaptation Therapy (PATH)	Problem Adaptation Therapy (PATH) focuses on the subject, the caregiver, and the subject's home-environment, to encourage problem-solving and adaptive functioning. The goal of PATH is to decrease depression and disability.
BEHAVIORAL	Supportive Therapy	Supportive Therapy assists subjects in expressing their feelings and focusing on their strengths and abilities in working through current difficulties and transitions.

Timeline

• Start date: 2011-04-01
• Primary completion: 2017-02-01
• Completion: 2017-02-01
• First posted: 2011-05-09
• Last updated: 2018-03-21

Locations

2 sites across 1 country: United States