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Engaging in the Life-planning in Early Alzheimer’s and other Dementias advance care planning intervention is associated with perceived advance care planning concordance and interpersonal connectedness
Sara Bybee, Jordana L Clayton, Nancy R Aruscavage, Rebecca Utz, Sharon E. Bigger, Eli Iacob, Kara Bottiggi Dassel. The Gerontologist, 2025-08-05
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
N = 48 community-based dyads completed the LEAD intervention, with N = 43 answering open-ended questions. Care recipients averaged 65.1 years of age (SD =14.8); care partners averaged 54.9 years (SD = 14.6) and were primarily spouses (n = 32, 66.7%) or children (n = 12, 25.0%). Engaging in ACP was associated with higher interpersonal connectedness and with perceived ACP concordance. Perceived ACP concordance was not associated with higher interpersonal connectedness. DISCUSSION AND These findings suggest that clinicians should focus on facilitating ACP discussions with dyads, as these conversations appear crucial for fostering understanding and agreement between dyad members, ultimately leading to perceived ACP concordance.
Key findings
- N = 48 community-based dyads completed the LEAD intervention, with N = 43 answering open-ended questions.
- Care recipients averaged 65.1 years of age (SD =14.8); care partners averaged 54.9 years (SD = 14.6) and were primarily spouses (n = 32, 66.7%) or children (n = 12, 25.0%).
- Engaging in ACP was associated with higher interpersonal connectedness and with perceived ACP concordance.
- Perceived ACP concordance was not associated with higher interpersonal connectedness.
- DISCUSSION AND These findings suggest that clinicians should focus on facilitating ACP discussions with dyads, as these conversations appear crucial for fostering understanding and agreement between dyad members, ultimately leading to perceived ACP concordance.
Why it matters
In a small group of 48 pairs of people with early Alzheimer's or other dementias and their care partners, taking part in an advance care planning programme was linked to feeling more connected and more agreement on care planning. It does not test any treatment, cure or prevention.
Study details
- Participants48
- Effect size66.7%; 25.0%
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 40/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (The Gerontologist) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | The Gerontologist: journal h-index 238 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 1 / 4 | 48 participants |
| Effect reported | 2 / 3 | Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 1 / 7 | Cited 2 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 0 / 5 | 0.7 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025 |
| Impact for its field and year | 2 / 6 | Cited 1.7× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 1 / 6 | Cited by 1 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 0 / 4 | Cited 2 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 1 / 4 | Last-listed author Kara Bottiggi Dassel: h-index 13 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | University of Utah: institution h-index 1,238 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 0 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 1 institution(s) in 1 country — scores zero (affiliation lists can be incomplete) |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 40794557) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 40 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record names 7 authors; APA and Vancouver show the first six, BibTeX and the downloads carry all of them. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Bybee, S., Clayton, J. L., Aruscavage, N. R., Utz, R., Bigger, S. E., Iacob, E., et al. (2025). Engaging in the Life-planning in Early Alzheimer’s and other Dementias advance care planning intervention is associated with perceived advance care planning concordance and interpersonal connectedness. The Gerontologist. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnaf179
Vancouver
Bybee S, Clayton JL, Aruscavage NR, Utz R, Bigger SE, Iacob E, et al. Engaging in the Life-planning in Early Alzheimer’s and other Dementias advance care planning intervention is associated with perceived advance care planning concordance and interpersonal connectedness. The Gerontologist. 2025. doi:10.1093/geront/gnaf179. PMID: 40794557.
BibTeX
@article{bybee2025-40794557,
author = {Bybee, Sara and Clayton, Jordana L and Aruscavage, Nancy R and Utz, Rebecca and Bigger, Sharon E. and Iacob, Eli and Dassel, Kara Bottiggi},
title = {{Engaging in the Life-planning in Early Alzheimer’s and other Dementias advance care planning intervention is associated with perceived advance care planning concordance and interpersonal connectedness}},
journal = {The Gerontologist},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1093/geront/gnaf179},
pmid = {40794557},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnaf179}
}
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