application): As a new investigator in the fourth year of her independent research career, the candidate has addressed this MRSDA application to the psychosocial geriatrics research objective of the NIA. The training phase of this application (Years 1-2) will provide supervised experiences and establish interdisciplinary collaborations in the following areas: (1) palliative care; (2) therapeutic interventions with terminal caregivers; (3) the assessment of medical decision making capacity and the legal issues involved therein; and (4) multivariate statistics for nested research designs. The purpose of the project in Years 3-5 is to develop and evaluate a two-pronged, Care Integration Team (CIT) intervention to improve communication among professional and personal caregivers for individuals receiving in-home hospice care. A two group comparison design with an embedded intrasubject comparison component will be used to test the intervention's effectiveness. The CIT intervention attempts to improve communication among the members of CIT by: (1) training registered nurses in the administration of advance care planning (ACP) interviews and the use of enhanced job structure to facilitate treatment fidelity, and (2) training personal caregivers in the use of problem solving skills.
Aim 1 assesses the efficacy of training RNs to conduct ACP interviews and use enhanced job structure to track the impact of their ACP interviews on care recipient/personal caregiver dyads.
Aim 2 measures the impact of RN-ACP interviewing on personal caregivers knowledge of advance directives and of care recipients medical treatment wishes. Personal caregivers satisfaction with the RN-ACP interview will also be assessed.
Aim 3 assesses the efficacy of the two-pronged intervention on reducing personal caregivers experience of psychological and care-related distress during in-home hospice care. Secondary aims include measuring the longitudinal impact of the intervention among Caucasian and African-American dyads on changes in personal caregiver psychosocial outcome and on care recipient quality of life. Behavioral indicators of care recipient pain and communication will be assessed through videotapes and computer-assisted direct observational procedures.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Type
Research Scientist Development Award - Research & Training (K01)
Project #
5K01AG000943-05
Application #
6733517
Study Section
National Institute on Aging Initial Review Group (NIA)
Program Officer
Stahl, Sidney M
Project Start
2000-04-15
Project End
2006-03-31
Budget Start
2004-04-01
Budget End
2006-03-31
Support Year
5
Fiscal Year
2004
Total Cost
$95,824
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
045632635
City
Tuscaloosa
State
AL
Country
United States
Zip Code
35487
Yang, Chunxing; Wang, Hongyan; Qiao, Tao et al. (2014) Partial loss of TDP-43 function causes phenotypes of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 111:E1121-9
Schmid, Bettina; Allen, Rebecca S; Haley, Philip P et al. (2010) Family matters: dyadic agreement in end-of-life medical decision making. Gerontologist 50:226-37
Allen, Rebecca S; Phillips, Laura L; Pekmezi, Dorothy et al. (2009) Living Well with Living Wills: Application of Protection Motivation Theory to Living Wills Among Older Caucasian and African American Adults. Clin Gerontol 32:44-59
Allen, Rebecca S (2009) The Legacy Project Intervention to Enhance Meaningful Family Interactions: Case Examples. Clin Gerontol 32:164-176
Torreggiani, Massimo; Liu, Huixian; Wu, Jin et al. (2009) Advanced glycation end product receptor-1 transgenic mice are resistant to inflammation, oxidative stress, and post-injury intimal hyperplasia. Am J Pathol 175:1722-32
Allen, Rebecca S; Hilgeman, Michelle M; Ege, Margaret A et al. (2008) Legacy activities as interventions approaching the end of life. J Palliat Med 11:1029-38
Cai, Weijing; He, John C; Zhu, Li et al. (2008) Oral glycotoxins determine the effects of calorie restriction on oxidant stress, age-related diseases, and lifespan. Am J Pathol 173:327-36
Allen, Rebecca S; Burgio, Louis D; Fisher, Susan E et al. (2005) Behavioral characteristics of agitated nursing home residents with dementia at the end of life. Gerontologist 45:661-6
Allen, Rebecca S; DeLaine, Shermetra R; Chaplin, William F et al. (2003) Advance care planning in nursing homes: correlates of capacity and possession of advance directives. Gerontologist 43:309-17
Allen, Rebecca S; Thorn, Beverly E; Fisher, Susan E et al. (2003) Prescription and dosage of analgesic medication in relation to resident behaviors in the nursing home. J Am Geriatr Soc 51:534-8

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