Telephone Support for Dementia Caregivers

Rhode Island Hospital250 enrolled

Overview

Caring for a patient with dementia is associated with increased feelings of burden and depression. The proposed study will examine the efficacy of Family Intervention: Telephone Tracking - Dementia (FITT-Dementia), a multi-component, family-based, telephone intervention, as a tool to reduce caregiver stress.

A previous pilot study of this approach showed reduced burden and reaction to memory and behavior problems for dementia caregivers. This study will test the intervention in a larger group of caregivers and have a more detailed analysis of outcomes. The caregiver of a person with dementia will receive telephone support calls. They will receive telephone calls from a trained member of the research team. These calls will occur over a six-month period and will be scheduled at a time that is convenient for the caregiver. They will receive a total of 16 calls over 6 months. During each call, the support person will discuss their current caregiving situation and provide various forms of support.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

SINGLE

Enrollment

250

Conditions

Dementia

Interventions

Family Intervention:Telephone Tracking Support- CaregiverBEHAVIORAL

Family-based problem solving treatment

Telephone SupportBEHAVIORAL

Supportive telephone counseling about caregiving

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 50 YearsMax age: 90 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * 1\) Diagnosis of dementia; * 2\) mild to moderate dementia; * 3\) family member or other adult in caregiver role for at least 6 months, and who provides at least 4 hours of supervision or direct assistance per day for the person with dementia; * 4\) care recipient lives in the community, including senior/retirement centers, but excluding nursing homes and assisted living centers; and * 5\) there is no plan for the care recipient to be placed in long term care or the caregiver to end their role within the next 6 months Exclusion Criteria: Patient: * 1\) other major medical condition affecting independent functioning * 2\) older than age 90; and * 3\) younger than age 50. Caregiver: * 1\) major acute medical illness; * 2\) English not primary language; * 3\) cognitive impairment; * 4\) no access to a telephone; or * 5\) older than age 90.

Locations (1)

Rhode Island Hospital

Providence, Rhode Island, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Depression, burden, reaction to memory and behavior problems

Time frame: Every two months, over a 6 month time-period , and a three month follow-up

Secondary Outcomes

Cost-effectiveness and resource use

Time frame: Monthly resource check-ins.

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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