Mobile support program to help older adults and families in the ICU
Official title: Improving needs among older adults: the ICUconnect 2 primary palliative care RCT
Funded at Duke University · NIH-11168785 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project tests a smartphone app that helps ICU clinicians, patients, and family members identify and address palliative care needs for older adults in intensive care.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Duke University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Durham, United States) |
| Project start | August 15, 2024 |
| Project end | July 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $640,087 |
| NIH project number | 5R01AG084572-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11168785 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are older adults in the ICU (and their family members) who have elevated palliative care needs and receive care at one of the participating hospitals.
✕Less likely to help
Patients not in the ICU, those without elevated palliative needs, or people who receive care outside the participating hospitals are unlikely to benefit from this trial.
What this research studies
If you or an older loved one are in the ICU, this program offers an app where patients and family can report palliative care needs and receive tailored information. The app also gives ICU clinicians a digital way to coordinate and personalize care based on those reports. The team will run a randomized trial at four hospitals comparing the app plus usual care to usual care alone with about 350 patient-family pairs who have higher unmet palliative needs. The goal is to learn if the app reduces unmet needs and improves agreement between care and patients' goals.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the app could reduce unmet palliative care needs and make ICU care more aligned with older patients' goals and preferences.
How similar studies have gone: A prior single-center randomized trial with 111 patient-family pairs showed ICUconnect improved unmet needs and goal concordance compared with usual care, indicating promising prior results.
Where this research is happening
-
Duke University
Durham, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Cox, Christopher Ethan — Duke University
- Study coordinator: Cox, Christopher Ethan
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.