Telehealth for end-of-life care in nursing home residents with Alzheimer's
Telehealth Use and the Quality of End-of-Life Care for Nursing Home Residents with Alzheimer's Disease and Alzheimer's Disease-Related Dementias
This project looks at whether telehealth visits change the quality and timing of care for nursing home residents with Alzheimer's and related dementias near the end of life.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Weill Medical Coll of Cornell Univ NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New York, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11189738 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If your loved one lives in a nursing home with Alzheimer's or a related dementia, this project will track how telehealth use changed care in the last 90 days of life. Researchers will use the timing of Medicare telehealth policy changes as a natural experiment to compare periods with more or less telehealth access across nursing homes and examine outcomes like advance care planning, hospital transfers, and specialist palliative care. The team will examine differences by race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status to see if telehealth reduces or worsens disparities in end-of-life care. They will also study possible downsides for people with dementia, such as difficulties using video visits, to understand when telehealth helps or harms residents.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates for the findings of this work are nursing home residents aged 65 and older who have Alzheimer's disease or related dementias, especially those receiving care near the end of life.
Not a fit: People without dementia, younger adults, or nursing home residents not in the last months of life are unlikely to see direct benefit from this specific research.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could inform policies and practices so nursing home residents with dementia receive more timely, equitable, and appropriate end-of-life care using telehealth.
How similar studies have performed: Prior studies suggest telehealth can improve access to specialists, but using Medicare policy changes to measure effects on end-of-life care for people with dementia is relatively new and not yet settled.
Where this research is happening
New York, United States
- Weill Medical Coll of Cornell Univ — New York, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Yu, Jiani — Weill Medical Coll of Cornell Univ
- Study coordinator: Yu, Jiani
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.