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The dementia care study (D‐CARE): Recruitment strategies and demographic characteristics of participants in a pragmatic randomized trial of dementia care
Abstract
Introduction
Pragmatic research studies that include diverse dyads of persons living with dementia (PLWD) and their family caregivers are rare.Methods
Community-dwelling dyads were recruited for a pragmatic clinical trial evaluating three approaches to dementia care. Four clinical trial sites used shared and site-specific recruitment strategies to enroll health system patients.Results
Electronic health record (EHR) queries of patients with a diagnosis of dementia and engagement of their clinicians were the main recruitment strategies. A total of 2176 dyads were enrolled, with 80% recruited after the onset of the pandemic. PLWD had a mean age of 80.6 years (SD 8.5), 58.4% were women, and 8.8% were Hispanic/Latino, and 11.9% were Black/African American. Caregivers were mostly children of the PLWD (46.5%) or spouses/partners (45.2%), 75.8% were women, 9.4% were Hispanic/Latino, and 11.6% were Black/African American.Discussion
Health systems can successfully enroll diverse dyads in a pragmatic clinical trial.Many UC-authored scholarly publications are freely available on this site because of the UC's open access policies. Let us know how this access is important for you.