Clinical trial NCT00764647: Education Program for Family Caregivers
Official title: Evaluation of Education Program for Family Caregivers of Frail Elders
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Stress
Keywords: family caregivers
caregiver education
caregiver burden
caregiver hardiness
caregiver depressive symptoms
Lead sponsor: CAMC Health System
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2008-10-02
Enrollment: 42
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: NA
Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: The purpose of this evaluation was to determine the effectiveness of an educational program designed to assist family caregivers to learn the knowledge and skills to take better care of their frail elder relatives and themselves.

Detailed description: Spouses, children, and other family members typically care for frail elderly persons. These family caregivers attempt to provide care for their relative in the home, despite the potential for excessive stress to themselves. This care may extend over many years, involving unrelenting management of their relative, which puts the caregiver at risk for the development of physical and mental health consequences. The stress of caring for a frail elder may result in the institutionalization of the care receiver due to declining health or abilities in the caregiver as caregivers frequently continue to provide care at the expense of their own health. The goal of the education program is to fill an important need, that is, assist caregivers to become empowered, hardier, and have the ability to cope with the stress associated with caregiving. The aim is to investigate whether this educational intervention improves selected outcomes for family caregivers of frail elders. The selected outcomes are knowledge of caregiving, hardiness, quality of life, physical health, depressive symptoms, burden, and coping.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* 18 years of age and older
* family member participating in care of a frail elder (60 years and older)

Exclusion Criteria:

* unable to speak or read English (materials are written in English)

Primary outcomes:
measure: Hardiness (change over time)
timeFrame: pre-intervention, immediate post-intervention, six-month post-intervention, and twelve-month post intervention
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Knowledge of Caregiving (change over time)
timeFrame: pre-intervention, immediate post-intervention, six-month post-intervention, and twelve-month post intervention
measure: Quality of Life (change over time)
timeFrame: pre-intervention, immediate post-intervention, six-month post-intervention, and twelve-month post intervention
measure: Physical and Mental Health (change over time)
timeFrame: pre-intervention, immediate post-intervention, six-month post-intervention, and twelve-month post intervention
measure: Depressive Symptomatology (change over time)
timeFrame: pre-intervention, immediate post-intervention, six-month post-intervention, and twelve-month post intervention
measure: Caregiver Burden (change over time)
timeFrame: pre-intervention, immediate post-intervention, six-month post-intervention, and twelve-month post intervention
measure: Coping (change over time)
timeFrame: pre-intervention, immediate post-intervention, six-month post-intervention, and twelve-month post intervention
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Charleston
country: United States
facility: West Virginia University Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center, Charleston Division
state: West Virginia
Study officials:
affiliation: West Virginia University School of Nursing
name: Barbara L Nunley, PhD, RN
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Sorensen S, Pinquart M, Duberstein P. How effective are interventions with caregivers? An updated meta-analysis. Gerontologist. 2002 Jun;42(3):356-72. doi: 10.1093/geront/42.3.356.
citation: Burgio L, Lichstein KL, Nichols L, Czaja S, Gallagher-Thompson D, Bourgeois M, Stevens A, Ory M, Schulz R; REACH Investigators. Judging outcomes in psychosocial interventions for dementia caregivers: the problem of treatment implementation. Gerontologist. 2001 Aug;41(4):481-9. doi: 10.1093/geront/41.4.481.
citation: Acton GJ, Kang J. Interventions to reduce the burden of caregiving for an adult with dementia: a meta-analysis. Res Nurs Health. 2001 Oct;24(5):349-60. doi: 10.1002/nur.1036.