Partners in dementia care: a care coordination intervention for individuals with dementia and their family caregivers.
OBJECTIVE
This article provides a detailed description of a telephone-based care coordination intervention, Partners in Dementia Care (PDC), for veterans with dementia and their family caregivers. Essential features of PDC included (a) formal partnerships between Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers and Alzheimer's Association Chapters; (b) a multidimensional assessment and treatment approach, (c) ongoing monitoring and long-term relationships with families, and (d) a computerized information system to guide service delivery and fidelity monitoring.


METHODS
Data illustrating the use of the intervention were displayed for 93 veterans and their caregivers after 12 months in PDC. Descriptive data were provided for each major component of the intervention protocol, including: initial assessment, goals, action steps, and on-going monitoring. Care coordinators completed a 12-item questionnaire ascertaining the acceptability and feasibility of implementing PDC.


RESULTS
Data from the assessments and goals indicated areas of need were not limited to any one issue or subset of issues, but were widely distributed across a variety of domains. Findings for action steps suggested a primary focus on getting/giving information and action-oriented tasks to access services and programs. Most action steps were assigned and completed by veteran's spouses and the majority were successfully accomplished. On average, families had two contacts per month with care coordinators. Few barriers were indicated by care coordinators in implementing PDC, highlighting the acceptability and feasibility of the PDC protocol.


CONCLUSIONS
PDC addressed the diverse needs of individuals with dementia and their caregivers, including important non-medical care issues, such as understanding VA benefits, accessing community resources, and addressing caregiver strain. PDC proved to be a feasible model that was complementary to the existing programs of the 2 partnering organizations.
Department of Psychology, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH 44115-2214, USA. k.judge46@csuohio.edu
Katherine S
KS
Judge
David M
DM
Bass
A Lynn
AL
Snow
Nancy L
NL
Wilson
Robert
R
Morgan
Wendy J
WJ
Looman
Catherine
C
McCarthy
Mark E
ME
Kunik
D000368:Aged; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D003704:Dementia / Q000451:nursing* / Q000628:therapy; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006787:Hospitals, Veterans; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012952:Societies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013689:Telephone; D014481:United States; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data