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Alzheimer DiseaseUPLIFT-ADNCT04520698

Utilizing Palliative Leaders In Facilities to Transform Care for Alzheimer's Disease

A study testing UPLIFT-AD in people with Alzheimer Disease, run by Indiana University at 1 site in United States.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

The purpose of this study is to evaluate a comprehensive model for integrating both primary and specialty Palliative Care for older adults with dementia into nursing facilities. Palliative Care is a supportive care approach that aims to improve the quality of life of patients and their families facing serious or… Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 years and older
Conditions the study is for
Alzheimer Disease
What is being tested?
UPLIFT-AD
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
1,322 participants
Where
1 siteUnited States
Study dates
8 Sep 2021to 30 Sep 2025
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 18 years and older
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • -
  • NURSING HOME RESIDENTS:
  • Long-stay resident in an enrolled nursing home defined as not paying through Medicare Part A at the enrolled facility.
  • Has a diagnosis of moderate to severe ADRD, as measured on the Minimum Data Set (MDS)
  • Length of stay >30 days
  • FAMILY MEMBERS/SURROGATE DECISION MAKERS:
Show all 11Show fewer
  • Family member and/or surrogate decision maker for an eligible resident in an enrolled nursing home
  • English-speaking
  • NURSING HOME STAFF:
  • Staff, nurse, or nurse assistant in an enrolled nursing facility
  • English-speaking

Who cannot join

  • -
  • NURSING HOME RESIDENTS:
  • Short-stay resident, defined as paying through Medicare Part A at the enrolled facility and/or receiving respite care
  • FAMILY MEMBERS/SURROGATE DECISION MAKERS:
  • Non-English-speaking
  • NURSING FACILITY STAFF:
  • Non-English-speaking

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

United States1 site
  • American Senior Communities

    Indianapolis, Indiana, 46201

Other trials in United States

About this study

The purpose of this study is to evaluate a comprehensive model for integrating both primary and specialty Palliative Care for older adults with dementia into nursing facilities. Palliative Care is a supportive care approach that aims to improve the quality of life of patients and their families facing serious or life-threatening illnesses, through the prevention and relief of suffering through the treatment of pain and other problems, using physical, psychosocial and spiritual approaches. Palliative care is specialized medical care for people who are living with a serious illness. This type of care is focused on providing relief from the symptoms and from the stress of the illness. The goal is to improve quality of life for both patient and family.

The UPLIFT-AD model will include providing education on primary Palliative Care for residents with dementia to nursing facility staff, training nursing facility staff in providing primary Palliative Care, and providing access to specialty Palliative Care consultations for residents. To help understand the impact of these interventions, this study will also collect information about resident health, the care they receive, and perceptions of their quality of life according to both family members and nursing facility staff.

Read the detailed description

The objective of this proposal is to evaluate the effectiveness of the UPLIFT-AD (Utilizing Palliative Leaders In Facilities to Transform care for Alzheimer's Disease) intervention and to assess the implementation context of the intervention using a hybrid 1 trial design. The UPLIFT-AD intervention includes 1) in-house PC champions trained to facilitate goals of care conversations with residents with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) and their surrogate decision-makers, screen residents for symptoms and other PC needs, provide symptom management and serve as a liaison to external PC consultants; 2) specialty PC consultants who provide consults for complex residents and families; and 3) primary PC education for nursing home (NH) staff. The study will use a randomized, stepped wedge design involving 16 diverse NHs in Indiana and Maryland and 640 residents, 640 family members and/or surrogate decision-makers, and 320 nursing facility staff.

Being tested
UPLIFT-AD
Keywords
Alzheimer Disease, Palliative Care, Dementia, Nursing Home
Medical subject headings
Alzheimer Disease, Dementia

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • UPLIFT-ADBehavioural

    Access to palliative care needs screening, advance care planning conversations, palliative care consultations

Study groups in NCT04520698
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Nursing Home-level UPLIFT-AD interventionExperimentalThe UPLIFT-AD intervention consists of three major components delivered at the level of the nursing home: 1) in-house PC champions trained to a) facilitate advance care planning conversations with residents with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias and their surrogate decision-makers, b) screen and follow up on residents' Palliative Care needs and c) serve as a liaison to Palliative Care consultants; 2) specialty Palliative Care consultant support providing individual consults for residents with complex Palliative Care needs; and 3) education on primary Palliative Care offered to all clinical NH staff.
Receives: Behavioral: UPLIFT-AD
Usual CareNo interventionUsual nursing home care.

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Change in End-of-Life Dementia - Comfort Assessment In Dying scale (EOLD-CAD)

    Nursing home staff and family members reported symptom frequency and intensity for 18 symptoms in the past 30 days. Symptom assessment was derived from the End-of-Life in Dementia Comfort Assessment in Dying (EOLD-CAD) and End-of-Life in Dementia Symptom Management (EOLD-SM) instruments. These symptoms included pain, discomfort, shortness of breath, choking, gurgling, difficulty swallowing, skin breakdown, restlessness, agitation, anxiety, depression, fear, crying, moaning, resistiveness to care, calm, serenity, peace. If the symptom did occur, respondents were asked if it had occurred once a month, 2-3 days a month, once a week, several days a week, or every day (ranging 0-5) and asked if the symptom was not at all intense, somewhat intense or very intense (ranging 1-3). Frequency and intensity were multiplied together for a score of 0-15 per symptom. A total score was derived by calculating the sum score and dividing by number of items. Higher scores indicate greater symptom burden.

    Measured: Baseline (prior to intervention) and12 months (post intervention implementation)

Secondary outcomes (5)
  1. Change in End of Life Dementia - Satisfaction with Care (EOLD-SWC) scale

    The outcome measure is change in the EOLD-SWC scale score. Participating family members/surrogate decisionmakers provided answers to questions asked over a 30 day timeframe. There are 10 items, each measured on a 4-point Likert scale ranging from 1 to 4 as follows: strongly disagree, disagree, agree, strongly agree. The items are added together for a cumulative score for a range of 10-40, with higher scores indicating greater satisfaction with care. The questionnaire items address decision-making, communication with health care professionals, understanding the resident's condition, and the resident's medical and nursing care.

    Measured: Baseline (prior to intervention) and 12 months (post intervention implementation)

  2. Change in Quality-of-life (QOL)

    The outcome measure is change in the quality-of-life (QOL) measure scale score. Two quality-of-life questions were asked of nursing home staff and family/surrogate decisionmakers about the respective resident's quality of life. One quality-of-life measure is a seven point scale describing overall quality of life. Another is a five point scale describing quality of life. Lower scores indicate poorer quality of life.

    Measured: Baseline (prior to intervention) and 12 months (post intervention implementation)

  3. Change in staff palliative care knowledge

    Change in staff palliative care knowledge will be measured by the Palliative Care survey (PCS). The PCS is a validated instrument, which includes subscales evaluating the frequency of key PC practice behaviors: family communication, provider coordination, planning/intervention, and bereavement. The total instrument score and each of the subscales are averaged to produce a range from 1 to 4, with higher scores indicating superior PC practices.

    Measured: Baseline and 6 months (post intervention implementation)

  4. Quality of Dying in Long-Term Care (QOD-LTC)

    The quality of dying-long-term care (QOD-LTC) scale was developed for cognitively impaired and intact residents. It was developed to be reported post-death for residents in NHs and residential care/assisted living settings. It assesses perspectives on quality of personhood, closure, and preparatory tasks. Higher mean scores reflect a higher quality of end-of-life in LTC. This was collected from nursing home staff and family/surrogate decisionmakers.

    Measured: Collected post-death

  5. Change in Family Distress in Advanced Dementia Scale (Modified)

    The Family Distress in Advanced Dementia Scale was developed for use with family members of nursing home residents with advanced dementia. Eighteen items from the scale were asked, consisting of three domains of distress: emotional distress, dementia preparedness, and nursing home relations . Higher scores indicate higher distress. Collected from family/surrogate decisionmakers only.

    Measured: Baseline (prior to intervention) and 12 months (post intervention implementation)

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted20 Aug 2020
  2. Study start8 Sep 2021
  3. Primary completion30 Sep 2025
  4. Study completion30 Sep 2025

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Supportive care
Allocation
Non-randomised
Intervention model
Crossover
Model description
The study will use a stepped-wedge non-randomized trial design with 16 sites in two states (Indiana and Maryland). The study team will compare process and outcomes of the UPLIFT-AD intervention vs. usual care. The intervention will be implemented consecutively over 36 months, with staggered roll-out at 4 sites (2 per state) approximately every 6 months.
Masking
None (open label)
Enrolment
1,322 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT04520698
Sponsor's protocol ID
2005967061
Other IDs
R01AG066922
Acronym
UPLIFT-AD
Status last verified
Jul 2026
First submitted
17 Aug 2020
Last updated
29 Jul 2026
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
Yes: A de-identified dataset will be created for the purposes of sharing with qualified users, along with data content, format, and organization, will be stored at Indiana University and be available through the Co-PIs. Deidentified data will be available to qualified users who execute Data Use Agreements (DUAs) with the research team and NH partners.

Publications

  • Tucker GG, Cagle JG, Stump TE, Tu W, Becker TD, Floyd A, Zhang P, Unroe KT. Family Visits and Symptom Burden in Nursing Home Residents With Cognitive Impairment. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2026 Jul 15. doi: 10.1111/jgs.70552. Online ahead of print.

    PubMed 42455515
  • Boakye A, Cagle J, Tucker G, Ersek M, Floyd AC, Elftmann H, Zhang P, Unroe KT. Family perceptions of palliative care consultations for nursing home residents. BMC Palliat Care. 2026 Apr 16;25(1):152. doi: 10.1186/s12904-026-02093-1.

    PubMed 41987115
  • Unroe KT, Ersek M, Stump TE, Floyd A, Nesvet M, Block LVD, Tu W, Cagle JG. Discordance in Ratings of Symptoms Experienced by Nursing Home Residents With Cognitive Impairment. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2026 Mar;71(3):403-410.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2025.11.022. Epub 2025 Nov 28.

    PubMed 41319818
  • Cagle JG, Stump TE, Tu W, Ersek M, Floyd A, Van den Block L, Zhang P, Becker TD, Unroe KT. A Psychometric Evaluation of the Staff-Reported EOLD-CAD Measure Among Nursing Home Residents With Cognitive Impairment. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2025 Jan;40(1):e70037. doi: 10.1002/gps.70037.

    PubMed 39743326
  • Unroe KT, Ersek M, Tu W, Floyd A, Becker T, Trimmer J, Lamie J, Cagle J. Using Palliative Leaders in Facilities to Transform Care for People with Alzheimer's Disease (UPLIFT-AD): protocol of a palliative care clinical trial in nursing homes. BMC Palliat Care. 2023 Jul 26;22(1):105. doi: 10.1186/s12904-023-01226-0.

    PubMed 37496001

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing UPLIFT-AD in people with Alzheimer Disease, run by Indiana University at 1 site in United States.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 11 inclusion and 7 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 29 Jul 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Change in End-of-Life Dementia - Comfort Assessment In Dying scale (EOLD-CAD) (time frame: Baseline (prior to intervention) and12 months (post intervention implementation)). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT04520698, which also lists 5 linked publications.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 29 Jul 2026.

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