PLAN-Dementia literacy education and navigation for Korean elders with probable dementia and their caregivers: Rationale, methods, and design of a community-based, randomized, controlled, multi-site clinical trial.

Background: Linkage to medical services is key to early detection, diagnosis, and care for dementia. Yet, racial and ethnic minoritized older adults and their caregivers are particularly vulnerable to inequity in dementia care due to limited dementia literacy. Mobilizing community resources such as community health workers (CHWs) can benefit older patients and their caregivers who are challenged by linguistic barriers and low health literacy.

Methods: Preparing for healthy aging through dementia Literacy education And Navigation (PLAN), is a CHW-led intervention program designed to promote linkage to medical services for dementia and caregiver outcomes in a multi-site clinical trial in the Greater Washington and New York metropolitan areas. This protocol describes the rationale, design, and methods of the PLAN trial.

Conclusion: We recruited 288 dyads of eligible Korean American older adults with undiagnosed dementia and their caregivers, totaling 576 participants. Data collection is ongoing. Findings from this trial will contribute to knowledge around identifying community-dwelling older adults with probable dementia with limited health resources as well as navigating appropriate medical evaluation and support.

Clinicaltrials: gov identifier: NCT03909347.