The PorchLight Project

Plain-language summary

The proposed project is a fully embedded pragmatic trial (R01), following an R61 pilot collaboration with Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota (LSS-MN). For this project: a) the training program for Senior Companions that was developed in the R61 Phase will now be delivered as part of a routine onboarding process provided by LSS-MN to all senior support volunteers in half of their program regions across Minnesota; LSS-MN will offer the PorchLight Project program to all regions and volunteers in the state during the final months of the proposed NIA project, consistent with quality improvement approaches; and b) LSS-MN will administer regular surveys to volunteers, clients, and caregivers as part of ongoing tracking and quality improvement efforts. The University of Minnesota investigators will not collect data nor administer training, as these activities will be fully integrated into the workflow of LSS-MN. \[Note: Since it was learned that caregivers receiving services/affiliated with LSS-MN programming who receive surveys are for the most part not providing care to LSS-MN clients, as of fall 2024, UMN will no longer request and analyze data on LSS-MN caregivers.\] UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA INVOLVEMENT: The University of Minnesota and collaborating investigators outside of LSS-MN will only 1) assist in survey item selection, 2) randomize the LSS-MN regions for the initial phases of the real-world trial for evaluation purposes, 3) analyze the de-identified data shared by LSS-MN, and 4) disseminate the project results in scientific, practice, and policy outlets/contexts.

Who can participate

What they're measuring

Trial details