University of Chicago
The CRxDpeer intervention, delivered by a trained peer navigator, in practice called a "peer mentor", includes three evidence-based components: (a) focused education about common social (e.g., food and housing insecurity) and caregiving (e.g., respite and end of life care) needs, (b) activation of personalized community resource information for social and caregiving needs through delivery of a resource list (HealtheRx) at the baseline encounter and coaching on how to communicate with service providers, coordinate services and manage social support (e.g., connect with their peer navigator, reach out to friends or relatives for support, identify support groups, etc.) and (c) ongoing navigation-focused support meant to boost the baseline intervention, including a series of proactive text messages over 12 months. During this time, the subject can respond to and communicate with the peer navigator for ongoing support.
In 2022, more than 11 million Americans, half of whom were 50 or older, provided more than 18 billion hours of unpaid care for people with dementia. Many caregivers have no formal training and limited support. The White House, along with the Alzheimer's Association, the National Institute on Aging and others, is calling for urgent attention to the health and well-being of the fast-growing population of dementia caregivers, with heightened concern for caregivers living in historically marginalized communities. Scalable, evidence-based, solutions leveraging existing assets are urgently needed to…
Inclusion Criteria: * Self-identifies as a caregiver of a home-dwelling person with Alzheimer's disease or related dementias (ADRD) * Resides in the target geographic region of the study * Has access to a cell phone and agrees to receive text messages from the study * Has an email address that they can receive emails from * Individuals under the age of 18 who are emancipated minors in the state of Illinois and a caregiver of a person with dementia Exclusion Criteria: * Minors who are not emancipated in the state of Illinois. * Previously participated in the intervention arm of the Community…
Essential components of the CRxDpeer intervention include: (1) focused education about common social (e.g. food, housing, transportation) and, specifically, caregiving needs (e.g. caregiver education, stress management, End of Life/Advance Care Planning (EOL/ACP)) and related resources, (2) activation of community resources through delivery of and coaching on use of a personalized local referral list (a "HealtheRx") and (3) boosting through a series of automated proactive text messages and ongoing resource navigational support by text/phone/email/video for utilizing resources. This intervention will be delivered by a peer mentor who is experienced in dementia caregiving and trained to provide 1:1 peer mentorship and resource navigation to dementia caregivers.