AgingPREPARENCT01550731
Preparing Older Veterans With Serious and Chronic Illness for Decision Making
A study testing PREPARE website and Advance directive in people with Aging, run by VA Office of Research and Development at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
Millions of diverse Veterans live with severe and chronic illness for which they will face complex, ongoing decisions. Although the VHA has been at the forefront of patient-centered chronic care, interventions to prepare Veterans for complex decision-making over the course of chronic illness are lacking. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 60 years and older
- Conditions the study is for
- Aging
- What is being tested?
- PREPARE website and Advance directive
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 414 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- Jul 2012to Jul 2016
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Yes, posted in the registrySummary in the doctors' view
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 60 years and older
- All sexes
- No healthy volunteers
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Veterans
- 60 years of age
- who have been seen in the General Medicine, Geriatrics, and Women's Clinics twice in the past year
- and have 2 or more serious or chronic medical conditions as determined by ICD-9 codes
Who cannot join
- Veterans will be excluded if they are:
- deaf
- blind
- demented
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
United States1 site
San Francisco VA Medical Center, San Francisco, CA
San Francisco, California, 94121
About this study
Millions of diverse Veterans live with severe and chronic illness for which they will face complex, ongoing decisions. Although the VHA has been at the forefront of patient-centered chronic care, interventions to prepare Veterans for complex decision-making over the course of chronic illness are lacking. This proposal addresses this gap by testing the efficacy of a novel preparation guide designed to prepare Veterans to communicate with their surrogates and to work with clinicians to make complex, ongoing decisions. The multi-media guide teaches communication and preparation skill behaviors (e.g., how to choose a surrogate and ask clinicians questions) in a culturally appropriate, easy-to-use format (targeted to a 5th grade reading level). This study aims to provide an impetus for changing the paradigm of advance care planning policies within the VA by moving beyond documentation of end-of-life wishes to the activation of Veterans to participate in ongoing communication of their values and goals - a process that is essential to fully realize patient-centered care.
Read the detailed description
4.5 million Veterans are over age 65 and an increasing number are living with chronic and serious illness. Most older Veterans and their surrogate decision makers will eventually face complex, ongoing decisions over the course of chronic illness. These decisions are difficult, especially for the 50% of older Veterans with limited health literacy. The old paradigm of advance care planning has focused on making decisions about life- prolonging procedures (e.g., resuscitation) by completing advance directives. Yet, this old paradigm is problematic. The forms are difficult to understand and often culturally insensitive. They also fail to prepare patients with concrete skills, such as how to identify one's values and communicate with surrogates and clinicians. The investigators have published a new paradigm of advance care planning that focuses instead on preparing patients to communicate with their surrogates and to actively participate with clinicians in making the best possible in-the-moment decisions. The new paradigm seeks to ensure that complex, ongoing decisions are based on a comprehensive set of considerations including the current clinical context, evolving goals, and patients' and surrogates' needs. To do this effectively, Veterans need to prepare. However, an easy-to-use, culturally-appropriate preparation guide does not exist. The investigators have created an easy-to-understand (5th grade reading level) preparation guide based on the investigators' new paradigm called PREParation, Activation, Reflection, and Engagement in advance care planning or PREPARE. PREPARE is designed to teach Veterans preparation skills including how to choose a surrogate and discuss surrogate decision making, clarify personal values for specific health states, and ask clinicians questions to make informed choices. The aims of this study are: (1) to conduct a randomized control trial to determine the efficacy of PREPARE to engage older Veterans with chronic illness in preparation skill behaviors (i.e., did they choose a surrogate, clarify their values, ask clinicians questions); (2) to determine the efficacy of PREPARE to activate Veterans and clinicians within clinical encounters (i.e., did Veterans ask clinicians questions or discuss preparation topics and did clinicians respond) and to improve satisfaction with decision making; and (3) to obtain input from Veterans, surrogates, and clinicians about implementation of PREPARE within the VA. To achieve Aim 1, 205 Veterans will be randomly assigned to the intervention (PREPARE materials plus an advance directive) and 205 will be assigned to the control group (advance directive only). Veterans in the PREPARE arm will view the easy-to-understand, multi-media PREPARE website during the study interview and then take home PREPARE materials in photo booklet and pamphlet format to ensure universal access to the information. The primary outcome is Veteran-reported engagement in preparation skill behaviors at 3 and 6 months, which will be measured with standard cognitive behavioral measures. For Aim 2, activation within the clinical encounters will be measured with validated quantitative analysis techniques of audio-recordings. Satisfaction with decision making will be measured with validated, self-reported measures. For Aim 3, the investigators will ask Veterans randomized to the PREPARE arm and their surrogates and clinicians how best to implement PREPARE within the clinical setting. The investigators will use standard parametric or non-parametric statistical tests to assess group differences, will control for demographic or other variables that differ between randomization groups, and adjust for potential clustering by clinician. For Aims 1 and 2 the investigators will assess differences in engagement and satisfaction by race/ethnicity, literacy, and gender. The research team has extensive experience testing literacy-appropriate, multi-media health education materials in randomized trials. The study team is poised to test the efficacy of PREPARE, and findings from this study will pave the way for multi-site effectiveness testing and widespread VA dissemination of PREPARE.
- Conditions
- Aging
- Being tested
- PREPARE website, Advance directive
- Keywords
- advance care planning, health communication, aging
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
PREPARE websiteBehavioural
Advance care planning website and materials plus an advance directive.
Advance directiveBehavioural
The control group will only receive an advance directive.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| PREPARE | Experimental | The intervention group will review the PREPARE advance care planning website and PREPARE materials plus receive an advance directive. The control group will only receive an advance directive. Receives: Behavioral: PREPARE website |
| CONTROL | Active comparator | The control group will only receive an advance directive. Receives: Behavioral: Advance directive |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
New Advance Care Planning Documentation in the Medical Record at 9 Months
The primary outcome is documentation of advance care planning wishes in the medical record. ACP documentation for the purposes of this study includes the easy-to-read advance directive or other valid advance directives or living wills, a durable power of attorney for healthcare document (DPOAHC), a physicians orders for life sustaining treatment (POLST) form, or other documentation of patients wishes for medical care (ie, documentation of oral directives by a physician, or code status, such as full code or do not resuscitate or do not intubate orders or notes by a physician).
Measured: 9 months after study enrollment
Secondary outcomes (1)
Self-reported Engagement in Advance Care Planning (ACP) Behaviors
Secondary outcome was chosen to measure the full process of Advance Care Planning (ACP) using validated questionnaires, such as the patient-reported ACP Engagement Survey. This questionnaire includes Behavior Change Process measures. Behavior Change Process measures include knowledge, contemplation, self-efficacy, and readiness for several ACP actions. The Process measures are assessed on an average 5-point Likert scale with a low of 1 and a high of 5, with high scores indicating more ACP engagement. The investigators used mixed effects models to create an overall adjusted score.
Measured: 6 months
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted12 Mar 2012 (estimated)
- Study startJul 2012
- Primary completionJul 2016
- Study completionJul 2016
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Posted resultsParticipant flow, outcome measures and adverse events reported by the sponsor.
- Publications (8)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for AgingStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by VA Office of Research and DevelopmentThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Health services research
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Quadruple blind
- Who is masked
- Participant, Care provider, Investigator, Outcomes assessor
- Enrolment
- 414 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- VA Office of Research and Development
- Sponsor type
- US federal agency
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
- Investigators
- Rebecca Sudore, MD, Principal investigator, San Francisco VA Medical Center, San Francisco, CA
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT01550731
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- IIR 11-110
- Acronym
- PREPARE
- Status last verified
- May 2019
- First submitted
- 8 Dec 2011
- Last updated
- 18 Jul 2019
- Results posted
- Yes, on ClinicalTrials.gov
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No
Publications
McMahan RD, Knight SJ, Fried TR, Sudore RL. Advance care planning beyond advance directives: perspectives from patients and surrogates. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2013 Sep;46(3):355-65. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2012.09.006. Epub 2012 Nov 27.
PubMed 23200188Allison TA, Sudore RL. Disregard of patients' preferences is a medical error: comment on "Failure to engage hospitalized elderly patients and their families in advance care planning". JAMA Intern Med. 2013 May 13;173(9):787. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.203. No abstract available.
PubMed 23545699Sudore RL, Knight SJ, McMahan RD, Feuz M, Farrell D, Miao Y, Barnes DE. A novel website to prepare diverse older adults for decision making and advance care planning: a pilot study. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2014 Apr;47(4):674-86. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2013.05.023. Epub 2013 Aug 21.
PubMed 23972574Sudore RL, Stewart AL, Knight SJ, McMahan RD, Feuz M, Miao Y, Barnes DE. Development and validation of a questionnaire to detect behavior change in multiple advance care planning behaviors. PLoS One. 2013 Sep 5;8(9):e72465. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0072465. eCollection 2013.
PubMed 24039772Su CT, McMahan RD, Williams BA, Sharma RK, Sudore RL. Family matters: effects of birth order, culture, and family dynamics on surrogate decision-making. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2014 Jan;62(1):175-82. doi: 10.1111/jgs.12610. Epub 2014 Jan 2.
PubMed 24383459Sudore R, Le GM, McMahan R, Feuz M, Katen M, Barnes DE. The advance care planning PREPARE study among older Veterans with serious and chronic illness: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Trials. 2015 Dec 12;16:570. doi: 10.1186/s13063-015-1055-9.
PubMed 26654250Sudore RL, Boscardin J, Feuz MA, McMahan RD, Katen MT, Barnes DE. Effect of the PREPARE Website vs an Easy-to-Read Advance Directive on Advance Care Planning Documentation and Engagement Among Veterans: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2017 Aug 1;177(8):1102-1109. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2017.1607.
PubMed 28520838Lum HD, Barnes DE, Katen MT, Shi Y, Boscardin J, Sudore RL. Improving a Full Range of Advance Care Planning Behavior Change and Action Domains: The PREPARE Randomized Trial. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2018 Oct;56(4):575-581.e7. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2018.06.007. Epub 2018 Jun 27.
PubMed 29940209
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 18 Jul 2019. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Preparing Older Veterans With Serious and Chronic Illness for Decision Making
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT01550731
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- PREPARE / IIR 11-110
- Conditions
- Aging
- Keywords
- advance care planning, health communication, aging
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 414 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- VA Office of Research and DevelopmentUS federal agency
- Study start
- Jul 2012
- Primary completion
- Jul 2016 (actual)
- Study completion
- Jul 2016 (actual)
- First posted
- 12 Mar 2012 (estimated)
- Results
- Posted 18 Jul 2019
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
Millions of diverse Veterans live with severe and chronic illness for which they will face complex, ongoing decisions. Although the VHA has been at the forefront of patient-centered chronic care, interventions to prepare Veterans for complex decision-making over the course of chronic illness are lacking. This proposal addresses this gap by testing the efficacy of a novel preparation guide designed to prepare Veterans to communicate with their surrogates and to work with clinicians to make complex, ongoing decisions. The multi-media guide teaches communication and preparation skill behaviors (e.g., how to choose a surrogate and ask clinicians questions) in a culturally appropriate, easy-to-use format (targeted to a 5th grade reading level). This study aims to provide an impetus for changing the paradigm of advance care planning policies within the VA by moving beyond documentation of end-of-life wishes to the activation of Veterans to participate in ongoing communication of their values and goals - a process that is essential to fully realize patient-centered care.
Detailed description
4.5 million Veterans are over age 65 and an increasing number are living with chronic and serious illness. Most older Veterans and their surrogate decision makers will eventually face complex, ongoing decisions over the course of chronic illness. These decisions are difficult, especially for the 50% of older Veterans with limited health literacy. The old paradigm of advance care planning has focused on making decisions about life- prolonging procedures (e.g., resuscitation) by completing advance directives. Yet, this old paradigm is problematic. The forms are difficult to understand and often culturally insensitive. They also fail to prepare patients with concrete skills, such as how to identify one's values and communicate with surrogates and clinicians. The investigators have published a new paradigm of advance care planning that focuses instead on preparing patients to communicate with their surrogates and to actively participate with clinicians in making the best possible in-the-moment decisions. The new paradigm seeks to ensure that complex, ongoing decisions are based on a comprehensive set of considerations including the current clinical context, evolving goals, and patients' and surrogates' needs. To do this effectively, Veterans need to prepare. However, an easy-to-use, culturally-appropriate preparation guide does not exist. The investigators have created an easy-to-understand (5th grade reading level) preparation guide based on the investigators' new paradigm called PREParation, Activation, Reflection, and Engagement in advance care planning or PREPARE. PREPARE is designed to teach Veterans preparation skills including how to choose a surrogate and discuss surrogate decision making, clarify personal values for specific health states, and ask clinicians questions to make informed choices. The aims of this study are: (1) to conduct a randomized control trial to determine the efficacy of PREPARE to engage older Veterans with chronic illness in preparation skill behaviors (i.e., did they choose a surrogate, clarify their values, ask clinicians questions); (2) to determine the efficacy of PREPARE to activate Veterans and clinicians within clinical encounters (i.e., did Veterans ask clinicians questions or discuss preparation topics and did clinicians respond) and to improve satisfaction with decision making; and (3) to obtain input from Veterans, surrogates, and clinicians about implementation of PREPARE within the VA. To achieve Aim 1, 205 Veterans will be randomly assigned to the intervention (PREPARE materials plus an advance directive) and 205 will be assigned to the control group (advance directive only). Veterans in the PREPARE arm will view the easy-to-understand, multi-media PREPARE website during the study interview and then take home PREPARE materials in photo booklet and pamphlet format to ensure universal access to the information. The primary outcome is Veteran-reported engagement in preparation skill behaviors at 3 and 6 months, which will be measured with standard cognitive behavioral measures. For Aim 2, activation within the clinical encounters will be measured with validated quantitative analysis techniques of audio-recordings. Satisfaction with decision making will be measured with validated, self-reported measures. For Aim 3, the investigators will ask Veterans randomized to the PREPARE arm and their surrogates and clinicians how best to implement PREPARE within the clinical setting. The investigators will use standard parametric or non-parametric statistical tests to assess group differences, will control for demographic or other variables that differ between randomization groups, and adjust for potential clustering by clinician. For Aims 1 and 2 the investigators will assess differences in engagement and satisfaction by race/ethnicity, literacy, and gender. The research team has extensive experience testing literacy-appropriate, multi-media health education materials in randomized trials. The study team is poised to test the efficacy of PREPARE, and findings from this study will pave the way for multi-site effectiveness testing and widespread VA dissemination of PREPARE.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Health services research
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Quadruple blind (participant, care provider, investigator, outcomes assessor)
- Number of arms
- 2
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| PREPARE | Experimental | Behavioral: PREPARE websiteThe intervention group will review the PREPARE advance care planning website and PREPARE materials plus receive an advance directive. The control group will only receive an advance directive. |
| CONTROL | Active comparator | Behavioral: Advance directiveThe control group will only receive an advance directive. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 60 years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (4 listed)
- Veterans
- 60 years of age
- who have been seen in the General Medicine, Geriatrics, and Women's Clinics twice in the past year
- and have 2 or more serious or chronic medical conditions as determined by ICD-9 codes
Key exclusion criteria (4 listed)
- Veterans will be excluded if they are:
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| PREPARE websiteAdvance care planning website and materials plus an advance directive. | Behavioural | PREPARE |
| Advance directiveThe control group will only receive an advance directive. | Behavioural | CONTROL |
Primary outcome
New Advance Care Planning Documentation in the Medical Record at 9 Months
Time frame: 9 months after study enrollment
The primary outcome is documentation of advance care planning wishes in the medical record. ACP documentation for the purposes of this study includes the easy-to-read advance directive or other valid advance directives or living wills, a durable power of attorney for healthcare document (DPOAHC), a physicians orders for life sustaining treatment (POLST) form, or other documentation of patients wishes for medical care (ie, documentation of oral directives by a physician, or code status, such as full code or do not resuscitate or do not intubate orders or notes by a physician).
1 secondary outcome
Self-reported Engagement in Advance Care Planning (ACP) Behaviors
Time frame: 6 months
Results and safety
Loading the posted results from ClinicalTrials.gov…
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 18 Jul 2019.
- Posted resultsParticipant flow, baseline, all outcome measures and adverse events.
- Results publication: PubMed 23200188McMahan RD, Knight SJ, Fried TR, Sudore RL. Advance care planning beyond advance directives: perspectives from patients and surrogates. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2013 Sep;46(3):355-65. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2012.09.006. Epub 2012 Nov 27.
- Results publication: PubMed 23545699Allison TA, Sudore RL. Disregard of patients' preferences is a medical error: comment on "Failure to engage hospitalized elderly patients and their families in advance care planning". JAMA Intern Med. 2013 May 13;173(9):787. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.203. No abstract available.
- Results publication: PubMed 23972574Sudore RL, Knight SJ, McMahan RD, Feuz M, Farrell D, Miao Y, Barnes DE. A novel website to prepare diverse older adults for decision making and advance care planning: a pilot study. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2014 Apr;47(4):674-86. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2013.05.023. Epub 2013 Aug 21.
- Results publication: PubMed 24039772Sudore RL, Stewart AL, Knight SJ, McMahan RD, Feuz M, Miao Y, Barnes DE. Development and validation of a questionnaire to detect behavior change in multiple advance care planning behaviors. PLoS One. 2013 Sep 5;8(9):e72465. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0072465. eCollection 2013.
- Results publication: PubMed 24383459Su CT, McMahan RD, Williams BA, Sharma RK, Sudore RL. Family matters: effects of birth order, culture, and family dynamics on surrogate decision-making. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2014 Jan;62(1):175-82. doi: 10.1111/jgs.12610. Epub 2014 Jan 2.
- Results publication: PubMed 26654250Sudore R, Le GM, McMahan R, Feuz M, Katen M, Barnes DE. The advance care planning PREPARE study among older Veterans with serious and chronic illness: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Trials. 2015 Dec 12;16:570. doi: 10.1186/s13063-015-1055-9.
- Results publication: PubMed 28520838Sudore RL, Boscardin J, Feuz MA, McMahan RD, Katen MT, Barnes DE. Effect of the PREPARE Website vs an Easy-to-Read Advance Directive on Advance Care Planning Documentation and Engagement Among Veterans: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2017 Aug 1;177(8):1102-1109. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2017.1607.
- Derived from this study: PubMed 29940209Lum HD, Barnes DE, Katen MT, Shi Y, Boscardin J, Sudore RL. Improving a Full Range of Advance Care Planning Behavior Change and Action Domains: The PREPARE Randomized Trial. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2018 Oct;56(4):575-581.e7. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2018.06.007. Epub 2018 Jun 27.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Rebecca Sudore, MD principal investigator
San Francisco VA Medical Center, San Francisco, CA
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing PREPARE website and Advance directive in people with Aging, run by VA Office of Research and Development at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 4 inclusion and 4 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 18 Jul 2019. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
Yes. Results are posted in the registry (first posted 18 Jul 2019). A summary is in the For doctors view, and the full results are on ClinicalTrials.gov.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
New Advance Care Planning Documentation in the Medical Record at 9 Months (time frame: 9 months after study enrollment). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT01550731, which also lists 8 linked publications.
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 18 Jul 2019.