Quality of Life Trials or Supportive Care Trials are research studies to evaluate improving the health, care or quality of life for people, typically without using study drugs or devices. UCSF's Memory and Aging Center (MAC) runs selected supportive trials for people with neurodegenerative disease. Your participation helps us evaluate these interventions. If one of these trials looks interesting to you, please talk with your doctor or contact the study team to see if it is appropriate for you.
Care Ecosystem: Navigating Patients and Families through Stages of Care
Enrollment in the Care Ecosystem will open soon at 6 sites around the country, including UCSF. Please check back for study updates. The Care Ecosystem is a proactive care model that emphasizes coordinated, continuous, and personalized care to improve the health and satisfaction of patients and their caregivers.
A paper in the scientific journal PLoS describes the previous trial, Possin, Merrilees, Bonasera, et al 2017, and in JAMA Internal Medicine the results, Possin, Merrilees, Dulaney, et al 2019.
If you are interested in developing the Care Ecosystem program at your institution, please see our page on Building a Care Ecosystem.
Life-Enhancing Activities for Family Caregivers (LEAF)
LEAF 2.0 is now closed for enrollment. The purpose of this study is to learn more about how a behavioral intervention that aims to increase positive affect can affect stress level, improve mood, and lessen the perceived burden of family caregiving for those who care for a person with Alzheimer's disease. You can find more details on the LEAF Study website.
- Results from the original LEAF study were published in Life enhancing activities for family caregivers of people with frontotemporal dementia (Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord. 2014;28:175-81).
- Listen to this episode of Morning Edition on NPR discussing the LEAF study.
- Read the study findings in Health Psychology.