The Hospice Advanced Dementia Symptom Management and Quality of Life Trial (HAS-QOL)

As the population ages, the incidence rate of Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders (dementia) is expected to triple. The National Alzheimer's Plan recognizes that while the number of persons with dementia (PWD) is increasing substantially, the healthcare and long term care systems are unprepared to provide high quality, effective and efficient care to the PWD and their caregivers. PWD often have many behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) including agitation, depression and sleep disturbances that affect both the quality of life (QOL) of the PWD and the caregiver. Unfortunately, due to a lack of programs to insert evidence-based care into the community, and hospice system specifically, PWD receive inappropriate and even harmful care. The investigators have developed the Aliviado Dementia Care Program (formerly known as the Dementia Symptom Management at Home Program, or DSM-H) to implement dementia friendly care for PWD and their caregivers in the community. Initially developed for use in home healthcare (HHC), the investigators have modified the program for use in hospice. The Aliviado Dementia Care-Hospice Edition is a systems level quality assurance performance improvement (QAPI) program that includes workforce training, and agency level workflow changes.