View clinical trials related to Older Adults.
Filter by:The high prevalence of chronic illnesses is a serious public health problem in the U.S., and more than 70 million adults age ≥50 have at least one chronic illness. Management of chronic conditions requires long-term use of complex treatment plans and can cause unintended consequences, such as increased risk of medication errors. Patient portals (PPs), a federally supported health information technology (IT), can be especially helpful for patients with chronic illnesses. Patients can now access their own health records and directly communicate with care providers through PPs. Prior findings suggest a great potential for using PPs to improve care quality, and the federal government funds healthcare organizations to implement this tool nationwide. Despite the potential benefits, the overall PP adoption rate in the U.S. is low. A lack of PP use among older adults has been addressed as a particular concern. When only older adults who use the Internet are considered, however, their proportion of PP use is similar to other age groups. A few studies also reported that older adults are receptive to PPs. In general, older adults need additional support for learning to use PPs, as they tend to be less familiar with technology. Currently, most older adults receive little or no PP support from their providers. This is an important gap in the nation's health IT initiative because without appropriate support, older adults will not be able to use this robust health tool, missing an important opportunity to improve their health outcomes. In an effort to fill this gap, the investigators developed and tested an older adult friendly Theory-based Patient portal eLearning Program (T-PeP) to support older adults in using PPs for their care. In the proposed feasibility study, the investigators plan to (Aim 1) optimize and implement a vendor-agnostic T-PeP and conduct formative and process evaluations; and (Aim 2) assess the preliminary impact of T-PeP on PP use and selected outcomes (PP knowledge, self-efficacy for PP use and health decision making, health communication, and medication reconciliation). If successful, this study could directly affect quality of care provided to older adults and the success of the national health IT initiative. Findings from this study will also provide hospitals, vendors, and policymakers with in-depth information on older adults' current PP usage patterns and other challenges in using various types of PPs at the national level.
Chronic kidney disease (CKD), affects over 45% of all individuals over 70 years of age. Patients with moderate CKD have more than a two-fold increased risk of cognitive impairment than those without CKD; furthermore, as many as 20-70% of patients with CKD have established cognitive impairment and overt dementia. The burden of cognitive impairment and dementia leads to functional decline and accelerated loss of independence, contributing to the tremendous individual, societal, and economic burden of CKD (i.e., 20% of Medicare expenditures in adults >65 years of age). There is no recommended treatment to prevent cognitive decline in CKD patients, and the few medications available for cognitive impairment have only short term modest effects. There is a critical need to evaluate therapies to forestall cognitive impairment, and maintain or improve cognitive functioning in older patients with CKD. To address this need, this study will test the hypothesis that older patients with moderate/severe CKD and pre-clinical cognitive impairment randomized to a 6-month home-based exercise program will improve cognitive function and MRI measured brain structure, compared to a usual care control group. This study will combine an assessment of cognition with MR imaging techniques to fully evaluate brain structure, blood flow, and behavior relationships at a level previously not conducted in this population
The evaluation of a detection and prevention program which aims to create a continuum of care and support for frail community-dwelling older people (from early detection, over intervention, to follow-up). First, the program aims to develop methods to easily, accurately and timely detect and prevent a negative frailty-balance in older people. Second, the study aims to improve the quality and efficacy of care and support given to frail community-dwelling older people.
This placebo-controlled RCT tests whether dietary supplementation with curcumin maintains or improves cognitive and physical function in older adults who are at high risk of functional decline due existing (mild) functional impairments and elevated biomarkers of inflammation and explore the association between functional changes and changes in biological indicators of active inflammation.
The PAINFREE (Improving PAIN control following FRactures; towards an Elder-friendly Emergency department) Initiative is a patient-centered multifaceted intervention which aims to improve pain management in patients 75 years and older presenting with a fracture at 7 Emergency Department of participating Montreal hospitals: 1. Montreal General Hospital 2. Royal Victoria Hospital 3. Ste Mary's Hospital 4. Hôpital de Verdun 5. Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal 6. Jewish General Hospital 7. Lakeshore General Hospital
This is a study to assess the effectiveness of CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitor), enhanced by a diabetes management platform (DMP), collectively called enhanced CGM (eCGM), in the care of older patients with T1D. The DMP includes an automated data transfer from CGM, insulin-delivery devices, and activity tracker to a clinical decision support system (CDS) that provides dosing adjustment recommendations based on that data to the healthcare team. In addition, the DMP includes on-demand education for patients and caregivers, and an interface for communication between providers, patients, and their caregivers.
Substance misuse is a common problem among HIV+ individuals. Research suggests that a Screening, Brief Intervention, and Treatment (SBIRT) model can be effective in reducing substance misuse in the general older adult population; however these findings have not been verified in the more vulnerable HIV+ older adult population. The present study seeks to address the problem of substance misuse in older HIV+ adults by piloting a SBIRT model for older HIV+ adults in a in a primary care setting. Individual reductions in alcohol and drug use can have significant effects on public health and safety when observed over a large population at risk for substance use problems. With wider dissemination statewide, a relatively low-cost intervention such as SBIRT could offer demonstrated benefits in this population.
This study investigates the effects of two weeks of reduced daily ambulation and a subsequent return to normal physical activity on metabolic health of older adults.
Currently there are insufficient published studies on amino acid requirements in the elderly. Phenylalanine is one of the indispensable amino acids. Low levels of phenylalanine has been observed in in the blood of older adults. It is due the increased uptake by the liver and intestine. This decreased levels of phenylalanine could lead to decreased skeletal muscle protein synthesis. Requirement for elderly individuals have been set based on studies conducted in younger adults hence may be inaccurate. The goal of this study is to directly measure the phenylalanine requirement of male and female elderly subjects over 65 years using the direct amino acid oxidation (DAAO) technique.
This research study explores the effects of a progressive, multi-component intervention following a stay in the hospital or rehabilitation facility. The purpose of this research study is to compare a multi-component intervention (higher intensity exercise, nutritional supplementation, and greater emphasis on functionally enhanced care transitions) with usual care physical therapy.