STELLA Family of Studies

Support via Technology: Living and Learning with Advancing dementia

Older Asian woman working on a laptop

Welcome to STELLA!

We offer support options for families caring for those with dementia. Each option is a research study that tests ways to help families manage the challenges that come with dementia caregiving. We hope you’ll find a good fit here.

Our Story

The STELLA studies started in 2016 with a grant from the Oregon Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. Over the years, we have tested several types of the STELLA intervention including STAR-C Telemedicine, Tele-STAR, STELLA, and STELLA-FTD (pilot). Our current study, Tele-STELLA, will be active until December 2025 and we are now launching our new study, STELLA-R. You can find out more from the publications listed at the bottom of this page.

Background

All of the STELLA studies are framed by Dr. Linda Teri's work at the University of Washington. Dr. Teri found that teaching care partners the "ABCs" of caregiving helped them manage upsetting behaviors. Dr. Allison Lindauer worked with Dr. Teri to update STELLA and make it available via telehealth, which provides easier access to a wider community. You can read more in the publication below:

Teri L, McCurry SM, Logsdon R, Gibbons LE. Training community consultants to help family members improve dementia care: a randomized controlled trial. Gerontologist. 2005 Dec;45(6):802-11. doi: 10.1093/geront/45.6.802. PMID: 16326662.

STELLA-R
STELLA-R is an online, self-directed, 8-week lesson program that teaches care partners about the ABC approach and introduces you to the different kinds of professionals that can help you on our caregiving journey. STELLA-R is for people living in Oregon, Washington or Idaho. 

Learn more about STELLA-R by clicking here.

STELLA-FTD (Coming Soon)
STELLA-FTD is an online, 36-week study that includes both self-directed website learning and online group sessions with Guides and other Care Partners. This program is designed to support Care Partners of persons with frontotemporal degeneration (FTD). STELLA-FTD is for people living anywhere in the United States.

Learn more about STELLA-FTD by clicking here.

Learn more about the differences between STELLA-R and STELLA-FTD in the graphic below or view a larger version by clicking here.

An image of a woman video chatting on her laptop with a caregiving professional sits above the title of the flyer: "CHOOSING THE BEST DEMENTIA CAREGIVING PROGRAM FOR YOU." STELLA-R has the following: • 8 weekly lessons with no professional interaction • Entirely self-directed and self-paced online learning • Must live in OR, WA or ID • No interactions with other caregivers • Any stage of dementia. In contrast, STELLA-FTD features the following: • 8 weekly group sessions with professionals.

Current Funders

Tele-STELLA: NIH National Institute on Aging: R01AG067546 - Ends January 31, 2026

STELLA-R: Oregon Health & Science University Foundation through a grant from The Hart Family Foundation. Anticipated end date of June 2026

STELLA-FTD: NIH National Institute on Aging: R01AG084523 - Anticipated end date of June 2030.

Group photo of the STELLA research team, smiling and standing together in an outdoor setting.
Meet the STELLA team! We are committed to supporting caregivers through innovative, research-backed solutions for dementia care.

Tele-STELLA Principal Investigator

Tele-STELLA Co-Investigator

Tele-STELLA Professional Guides

Deborah Sevigny-Resetco

Deborah Sevigny-Resetco
PhD Student

Lab Staff

Christina Zonker Circle Crop Headshot

Christina Zonker, BA
STELLA-R Research Coordinator

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Hailey Chatterton, MS
STELLA-FTD Coordinator

Heather Franklin

Heather Franklin, MS
STELLA Statistician

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Keely Dehn, BA
STELLA-R Coordinator

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Kristin Cloyes, PhD, MN, RN
STELLA Qualitative Expert

Michelle Kinsella

Michelle Kinsella, OTR/L, BS
STELLA Dissemination Expert

Headshot of woman with black hair and eye glasses, sitting in front of metal garden box

Stephanie Irish
Tele-STELLA Technology Assistant

Lindauer, A., Smith, S., Gothard, S., Mattek, N., Tran, L., & Mooney, A. (2023). ‘There’s no straight line...’ a consumer-informed intervention for FTD family care partners: the STELLA-FTD pilot study. Aging Ment Health, 27(10), 2000-2010. doi:10.1080/13607863.2023.2250741

Lindauer, A., Messecar, D., McKenzie, G., Gibson, A., Wharton, W., Bianchi, A., Tarter, R., Tadesse, R., Boardman, C., Golonka, O., Gothard, S., & Dodge, H.H. (2021). The Tele-STELLA protocol: Telehealth-based support for families living with later-stage Alzheimer’s disease. J Adv Nurs, 77(10), 4254-4267. doi:10.1111/jan.14980

Lindauer, A., McKenzie, G., LaFazia, D., McNeill, L., Mincks, K., Spoden, N., Marcella, M., Mattek, N., & Teri, L.L. (2019). Using technology to facilitate fidelity assessments: The TeleSTAR caregiver intervention. J Med Internet Res, 21(5), e13599. doi:10.2196/13599

Thomas, N.W.D., Lindauer, A., & Kaye, J. (2019). EVALUATE-AD and Tele-STAR: Novel methodologies for assessment of caregiver burden in a telehealth caregiver intervention A case study. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord, 47(3), 176-184. doi:10.1159/000497805

Lindauer, A., Croff, R., Mincks, K., Mattek, N., Shofner, S.J., Bouranis, N., & Teri, L. (2018). “It took the stress out of getting help”: The STAR-C-telemedicine mixed methods pilot. Care Wkly, 2, 7-14. doi:10.14283/cw.2018.4

Lindauer, A., & Harvath, T.A. (2014). Pre-death grief in the context of dementia caregiving: a concept analysis. J Adv Nurs, 70(10), 2196-2207. doi:10.1111/jan.12411

STELLA Star logo

Contact Us

For STELLA-R:
Email: stella@ohsu.edu
Call/Text: (503) 816-8310

For STELLA-FTD:
Email: stellaftd@ohsu.edu
Call/Text: (503) 568-9725

Research Studies

View our current and upcoming caregiver research studies:

STELLA-FTD (Coming Soon)

STELLA-R

Tele-STELLA (Closed)

Are you a researcher wanting access to the data?

Please fill out the form below.

Data Request Form