Preventing elder abuse for people living with dementia
Risk Screening & Primary Prevention of Elder Abuse in People Living with Dementia
This project will identify caregivers visiting primary care clinics and offer them a short screening, an online support site, navigator visits, and clinic follow-up to reduce the chance of harm to people with dementia.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Southern California NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Los Angeles, UNITED STATES) |
| Project ID | NIH-11180443 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If you or a loved one has dementia, clinic staff will try to identify the family caregiver when you come to a participating primary care visit. The team will create and use a brief Risk Assessment Screen to find caregivers at higher risk of mistreating, and then deliver a three-part support program: a caregiver website with practical tools, one to three home or virtual visits from a care navigator, and training for the clinic team to address caregiving needs and schedule follow-up. They will also build an Outcome Tool that pulls together validated measures of changeable risk factors so they can track whether the supports reduce risk over time. The project starts by testing feasibility and then moves into a larger phase to see how well the approach works in real clinics.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are people living with Alzheimer's disease or related dementias who are seen in primary care together with a family or unpaid caregiver who is willing to engage with screening and support services.
Not a fit: People without an identified caregiver who attends clinic visits, or caregivers who do not want to use the website or navigator visits, are unlikely to receive direct benefit from this program.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this approach could lower caregiver-caused elder mistreatment and improve safety and quality of life for people living with dementia.
How similar studies have performed: Prior caregiver-support and elder-abuse screening efforts have shown promise for reducing risk, but this specific combination of primary care screening, a web tool, navigator visits, and clinic training is a newer, less-tested approach.
Where this research is happening
Los Angeles, UNITED STATES
- University of Southern California — Los Angeles, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Mosqueda, Laura a — University of Southern California
- Study coordinator: Mosqueda, Laura a
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 below.