Dementia Caregiver Chronic Grief Management: A Live Online Video Intervention

The exponential rise in the number of persons diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) places a heavy burden on family caregivers. The caregiver role that extends well beyond the placement of the care recipient in long-term care is associated with chronic grief, depressive and anxiety symptoms, dissatisfaction with care, and conflict with long-term care facility staff. This study will test the effects of a cost effective chronic grief management intervention to be delivered using an online platform (Adobe Connect) and iPads. The study aims to decrease dementia caregivers' chronic grief, depressive and anxiety symptoms, and to improve their positive states of mind; to improve satisfaction with care post-placement and to attenuate caregivers' conflict with facility staff.

Evidence indicates that Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia (ADRD) family caregivers suffer long-term mental and physical health effects that place them at risk for premature death. They do not relinquish their role after placing a family member with Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia (ADRD) in long-term care. In fact, these caregivers experience increased symptoms of depression, symptoms of anxiety, and chronic grief post-placement. In the long-term care (LTC) environment, caregivers' chronic grief is exacerbated by their lack of knowledge about late-stage Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia (ADRD) and their sense of loss, guilt, and role captivity. Interventions targeting improvement of ADRD caregivers' mental health have focused overwhelmingly on in-home care. We tested a Chronic Grief Management Intervention (CGMI) with ADRD caregivers in in long-term care and found it feasible (recruitment, retention, and attendance). The Chronic Grief Management Intervention (CGMI) had significant effects on caregiver knowledge and mental health outcomes (heartfelt sadness/longing and guilt; aspects of chronic grief). Although caregivers reported high satisfaction with this intervention, many could not attend the 12 face-to-face group sessions due to the burden of time and competing responsibilities. Therefore, we reduced the number of sessions to 8 and adapted the Chronic Grief Management Intervention to be delivered as a live streaming video, online group intervention; Chronic Grief Management Intervention-Video (CGMI-V), using Adobe Connect (online platform) and iPads. We tested CGMI-V in a single group pilot study for feasibility (recruitment, retention, attendance and technology ease of use) with Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia (ADRD) caregivers post-placement. We obtained 100% retention with high caregiver satisfaction with the intervention and the online technology used to deliver it. Our proposed study, Chronic Grief Management: A Live Streaming Video, Online Intervention (CGMI-V) builds on these results and is guided by a Model of Dementia Caregiver Chronic Grief in the Long-Term Care Setting. The purpose of this study is to test the effects of the 8-week CGMI-V on a caregiver primary outcome (chronic grief); a secondary mental health outcome (symptoms of depression, symptoms of anxiety, and positive states of mind) and a secondary facility-related outcome (caregiver satisfaction with care and conflict with facility staff) related to a minimal treatment (MT) control group. We propose to test the group-based Chronic Grief Management Intervention-Video (CGMI-V) in a Stage I longitudinal, randomized clinical trial. 144 Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia (ADRD) caregivers whose family members reside in one of the participating long-term care facilities will be randomly assigned to either CGMI-V or MT condition. Caregivers in the Chronic Grief Management Intervention-Video (CGMI-V) condition will participate in 8 weekly live streaming video, online group sessions. Caregivers in the minimal treatment (MT) condition will receive written information about late-stage ADRD at baseline. For both conditions, data will be collected at baseline, 8 weeks (immediately post-intervention) and then at 24 weeks post-baseline, using measures of caregiver grief: Marwit-Meuser Caregiver Grief Inventory(MM-CGI); depressive symptoms: Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D); anxiety symptoms: Stait-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI); positive states of mind: Positive States of Mind Scale (POSMS); satisfaction with care: Family Perception of Care Tool (FPCT); conflict with facility staff: Family Perception of Caregiving Role (FPCR subscale), knowledge of Alzheimer's disease: Family Knowledge of Alzheimer's Test (FKAT), loss, guilt and role captivity (FPCR subscales). Specific aims are to: 1) Establish effect sizes of the Chronic Grief Management Intervention-Video (CGMI-V) condition and Minimal Treatment (MT) control condition on changes in caregiver chronic grief. 2) Establish effect sizes of the CGMI-V and Minimal Treatment (MT) control condition on changes in caregiver symptoms of depression and anxiety and on positive states of mind. 3) Establish effect sizes of the CGMI-V condition and the Minimal Treatment (MT) control condition on changes in caregiver satisfaction with care provided in the facility and conflict with staff, and 4) Explore mechanisms of intervention impact on all caregiver outcomes. Our long-term objective is to develop a chronic grief treatment modality that will be adopted in long-term care facilities as part of routine support for Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia caregivers post-placement. This in turn will impact public mental health for this growing segment of the population.

Eligibility Criteria:
Inclusion Criteria:

* 21 years of age or older
* Identified as family member, fictive kin (self-identified family member), or partner of care recipient at any time post permanent placement of care in long-term care facility (LTCF)
* Care recipient has a documented ADRD diagnosis and resides in any type of unit in a LTCF
* Possessing self-reported basic computer literacy and in-home internet access
* Able to speak, read, and write English
* Not currently attending another ADRD caregiver grief management group
* Experiencing high to moderate levels of grief per screening with the Marwit-Meuser Caregiver Grief Inventory-Short Form (MMCGI-SF) (70 and above); and/or
* Experiencing high levels of depressive symptoms per screening with Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) (scores 10 and above)

Exclusion Criteria:

* Non English speaker, reader, writer
* Scoring under the cut off points on the MM-CGI-SF and the PHQ-9
* Reporting no basic computer literacy; no internet access