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Project Dates: June 1, 2020 – March 31, 2026
Older adults with dementia and their family often have to make decisions about more supportive care. However, the voices and preferences of older adults with dementia are often not included in these decisions. The goals of the Decision-Making in Alzheimer’s Research (DMAR) team and partners are to keep older adults with dementia involved in decision-making, better understand their decision-making processes, and create a novel tool to identify preferences related to transitions in supportive care.
Achieving Our Goals
We are achieving our goals through the following activities:
- We have conducted interviews with a diverse group of older adults who have varying degrees of dementia, their caregivers, and dementia care providers to gain a better understanding of decision-making related to transitions in care.
- We have developed and piloted a tool (based on our interviews) to assess preferences of older adults with dementia.
- We followed the care preferences of older adults with dementia and their caregivers over a one-year period to:
- Identify differences in preferences between older adults with dementia and their caregivers.
- Assess changes in preferences over time.
Longitudinal Study
- The study enrolled over 130 pairs of older adults (55+) with memory loss + their informal caregiver (involved family/friend) to test a choice tool designed to better understand preferences related to transitions in care.
- We have finished meeting with participants over Zoom to have them complete 6 choice tasks. We met with them 3 times over the course of 12 months.
If you were a participant in the DMAR study, you can contact the study team through email, dmar-study@uw.edu, or by phone at 206-543-3071. Thank you!
News & Updates
November 2025: New Publication!
Our research paper, “Developing an Accessible Discrete Choice Survey to Identify Supportive Care Preferences of Older Adults with Dementia,” has been published in Value in Health. This paper provides a methodological description of the development of DCE choice tasks for older adults with memory loss and dementia.
November 2025: DMAR attends AMIA in Atlanta, GA
In November, Dr. Anne M. Turner (PI) presented on the DMAR project in a panel entitled: Digital Ageism and Informatics Research Involving Older Adults with Cognitive Impairment” at the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA)’s Annual Symposium in Atlanta, GA. The panel included presentations by Drs. Turner, Demiris, Lazar and Alexander and explored strategies for mitigating digital ageism.
July 2025: DMAR attends AAIC in Toronto, Canada
In July, the DMAR project attended the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Toronto, Canada. Anne M. Turner presented a poster about the longitudinal DCE study examining supportive care preferences of persons living with dementia and their care partners.
More on the UW Health Promotion Research Blog
Dementia and Memory Care Resources
Here are some resources on Alzheimer’s disease and memory loss from organizations such as the Alzheimer’s Association and the MemoryHub.
Alzheimer’s Disease and other dementias:
- About Alzheimer’s Disease (PDF)
- Communicating with your Health Care Team (PDF)
- For Caregivers: Taking Care of Yourself (PDF)
- If you would like more information like this visit:
In Washington State:
- Memory Hub: A place for for Dementia-Friendly Community, Collaboration and Impact led by UW Memory and Brain Wellness Center (MBWC)
Contact Us
Questions? Please contact Astoria Ho, Research Coordinator, at astoriah@uw.edu or leave a message at 206-543-3071.
The Decision-Making in Alzheimer’s Research (DMAR) project is made possible thanks to $4 million in funding (grant number R01-AG066957) from the National Institute on Aging.