Behavioral Activation for Dementia Caregivers

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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This project was designed to test a model targeted intervention for dementia caregivers telephone program consisting of both psychoeducation and behavioral activation components to reduce the burden of caregivers. The program is delivered by telephone to increase accessibility and sustainability for caregivers.

Detailed Description
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The study compared two telephone interventions using a four-month longitudinal randomized controlled trial. For the first four weeks, all participants received the same psychoeducation program via telephone. Then for the following four months, eight biweekly telephone follow-up calls were carried out. For these eight follow-up calls, participants were randomized into either one of the two following groups with different conditions. For the Psychoeducation with BA (PsyED-BA) group, participants would receive eight biweekly sessions of BA practice focused on pleasant event scheduling and improving communications. For the Psychoeducation only (PsyED Only) group, there would be eight biweekly sessions of general discussion of psychoeducation and related information

Official Title
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Behavioral Activation for Dementia Caregivers: Scheduling Pleasant Events and Enhancing Communications

Conditions
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Dementia Caregivers

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Behavioral activation
* Other: Psychoeducation


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: They were caregivers aged 25 or above and must have be caring for a care recipient diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease for at least 3 months. They should be the primary caregiver and a spouse, kin (e.g. daughter/son or daughter/son-in-law) or sibling of the care recipient. Exclusion Criteria: To ensure intervention fidelity, participants who showed signs of severe intellectual deficits, demonstrate suicidal ideation, exhibit evidence of psychotic disorders, or cannot read or speak fluent Chinese / Cantonese were excluded.

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 25 Years
Maximum Age: 70 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Treatment
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Double


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Behavioral Activation<br>For the first 4 weeks,participants received psychoeducation about the symptoms and associated behavioral changes of dementia and the possible effects on the caregivers, t the physical, social and psychological consequences of stress, event scheduling and communication skills. After psychoeducation, eight bi-weekly behavioral activation sessions were administered, focusing pleasant event scheduling and effective communications. | Behavioral: Behavioral activation<br>* Activity scheduling, monitoring, review and re-scheduling<br>Other: Psychoeducation<br>* Education on dementia, caregiving stress, event scheduling and communication skills<br>|
| Active Comparator: Psychoeducation<br>For the first 4 weeks, participants were taught about the symptoms and associated behavioral changes of dementia and the possible effects on the caregivers, the physical, social and psychological consequences of stress, event scheduling and communication skills. After psychoeducation, eight biweekly phone sessions of general support but not behavioral activation. | Other: Psychoeducation<br>* Education on dementia, caregiving stress, event scheduling and communication skills<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Depressive Symptoms | Measured by CES-D | Change from baseline through study completion, an average of about 5 months | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Sense of Burden | Measured by Zarit Burden Scale | Change from baseline through study completion, an average of about 5 months |