Training to Improve Late-Stage Dementia Care

描述（由申请人提供）：至少有一半的养老院居民患有阿尔茨海默氏病或其他痴呆症（医疗保险和医疗补助服务中心，2002年），许多养老院护理人员缺乏必要的知识和技能来提供适当的护理，特别是对那些处于疾病过程后期的人（美国总审计局，2000年）。医疗保健互动，在与阿尔茨海默氏症协会的国家办公室的创新合作，建议应用交互式多媒体的能力，以教育需要的专业和家庭照顾者的那些人与晚期阿尔茨海默氏症或痴呆症的最终第二阶段的目标，证明改善护理这些晚期患者。第一阶段项目的目标是展示一个基于互联网的互动多媒体培训资源的可行性，针对那些与阿尔茨海默氏症或其他痴呆症的护理之家照顾者。通过提供关于晚期阿尔茨海默氏症和痴呆症护理的具体培训，原型应该会改善居民的护理实践和结果，并改善家庭和养老院工作人员之间的沟通。第二阶段的计划包括产品完成和功效测试，以确定培训计划对后期护理的影响程度。初步商业化将集中于与阿尔茨海默氏症协会国家办公室（见支持信）和互联网上与健康有关的互动内容出版商的营销努力。由于养老院管理者高度重视这些后期居民的护理，而且很少（即使是书面形式）存在帮助家庭护理人员，这种创新的，基于视频的互动培训应该很容易向各种客户推广。第一阶段的提交得到了多封支持信的加强，专业焦点小组的参与，国家咨询委员会的专业知识来指导开发过程，以及国家阿尔茨海默氏症协会同意销售所产生的产品。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): At least half of all nursing home residents have Alzheimer's disease or another dementing condition (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 2002), and many nursing home caregivers lack the necessary knowledge and skills to provide appropriate care, particularly to those in the late stages of the disease process (U.S. General Accounting Office, 2000). Healthcare Interactive, in an innovative collaboration with the national office of the Alzheimer's Association, proposes to apply the capabilities of interactive multimedia to the educational needs of both professional and family caregivers of those people with late-stage Alzheimer's or dementia with the eventual Phase II goal of demonstrating improved care for these late-stage patients. The goal of the Phase I project is to demonstrate feasibility of an Internet-based interactive multimedia training resource targeted to nursing home caregivers of those with Alzheimer's disease or another dementing condition. By providing specific training about late-stage Alzheimer's and dementia care, the prototype should result in improved care practices and outcomes for the residents, and improved communication between families and nursing home staff. Plans for Phase II include product completion and efficacy testing to determine the extent of which the training program impacts late-stage care. Primary commercialization will concentrate on marketing efforts with the national office of the Alzheimer's Association (see letter of support) and publishers of interactive health-related content on the Internet. Since nursing home administrators highly value the care of these late-stage residents, and since very little (even in written form) exists to help family caregivers, this innovative, video-based interactive training should prove to be easily marketed to a variety of customers. This Phase I submission is strengthened by multiple letters of support, the involvement of professional focus groups, the expertise of a National Advisory Board to guide the development process, and the agreement by the National Alzheimer's Association to market the resulting product.