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Translating Evidence-Based Dementia Caregiving Interventions into Practice: State-of-the-Science and Next Steps
Gitlin LN, Marx K, Stanley IH, Hodgson N.. The Gerontologist, 2015-02-17
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Over the past 3 decades, more than 200 dementia caregiver interventions have been tested in randomized clinical trials and found to be efficacious. Few programs have been translated for delivery in various service contexts, and they remain inaccessible to the 15+ million dementia family caregivers in the United States. This article examines translational efforts and offers a vision for more rapid advancement in this area. We summarize the evidence for caregiver interventions, review published translational efforts, and recommend future directions to bridge the research-practice fissure in this area. We suggest that as caregiver interventions are tested external to service contexts, a translational phase is required. Yet, this is hampered by evidentiary gaps, lack of theory to understand implementation challenges, insufficient funding and unsupportive payment structures for sustaining programs. We propose ways to advance translational activities and future research with practical applications.
Key findings
- We suggest that as caregiver interventions are tested external to service contexts, a translational phase is required.
Why it matters
This article reviews more than 200 tested dementia caregiver interventions and notes that few have been translated into everyday service settings, leaving them inaccessible to many family caregivers. It is about bringing caregiver support programs into practice, not about treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthHigh
How this study scored 51/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people 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 | 5 / 5 | Rated “high” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2015 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 6 / 7 | Cited 334 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 4 / 5 | 25.7 citations a year over 13 year(s) since 2015 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 18.6× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 3 / 6 | Cited by 19 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 87 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Nancy A. Hodgson: h-index 34 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | Johns Hopkins University: institution h-index 2,306 (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 26035597) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 51 / 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. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Gitlin, L. N., Marx, K., Stanley, I. H., & Hodgson, N. (2015). Translating Evidence-Based Dementia Caregiving Interventions into Practice: State-of-the-Science and Next Steps. The Gerontologist. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnu123
Vancouver
Gitlin LN, Marx K, Stanley IH, Hodgson N. Translating Evidence-Based Dementia Caregiving Interventions into Practice: State-of-the-Science and Next Steps. The Gerontologist. 2015. doi:10.1093/geront/gnu123. PMID: 26035597.
BibTeX
@article{gitlin2015-26035597,
author = {Gitlin, L. N. and Marx, K. and Stanley, I. H. and Hodgson, N.},
title = {{Translating Evidence-Based Dementia Caregiving Interventions into Practice: State-of-the-Science and Next Steps}},
journal = {The Gerontologist},
year = {2015},
doi = {10.1093/geront/gnu123},
pmid = {26035597},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnu123}
}
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