The primary research question is which of the 2 best known dementia caregiver interventions, the New York University Caregiver intervention (NYUCI) and Resources for Enhancing Caregivers Health Offering Useful Treatments (REACH OUT), is more effective in alleviating depressive symptoms and caregiver burden among Hispanic caregivers in New York City. The investigators hypothesize that the NYUCI will be more effective than REACH OUT in reducing caregiver depressive symptoms and burden among Hispanics because of its focus on family-centered counseling, which is posited to be more important among Hispanic caregivers because of a cultural emphasis among Hispanics on family interactions in interventions. In order to answer the primary question, the investigators will conduct a pragmatic randomized trial comparing the NYUCI vs. REACH OUT in 200 Hispanic caregivers of persons with dementia in the community of Northern Manhattan. The total time of the intervention will be 6 months. Our research question is which intervention, NYUCI or REACH OUT, is better in Hispanic relative (any relative) caregivers of persons with dementia. Our objective is to obtain effectiveness information that will help caregivers and health providers to make decisions about which intervention to choose. Our primary aim is to compare the effectiveness of the implementation of the NYUCI and REACH OUT in reducing depressive symptoms and burden. Our exploratory aims are to examine and compare the predictors of effectiveness of the NYUCI and REACH OUT and to examine additional outcomes such as caregiver stress and physical health, and outcomes related to the person with dementia. METHODS. We will conduct a pragmatic randomized trial of 200 relative caregivers of persons with dementia. Participants will be randomized to the NYUCI or REACH OUT. The total duration of the intervention will be 6 months, with assessments at baseline and follow-up. All interventions and questionnaires will be conducted in both English and Spanish. The study duration will be 3 years. The primary outcomes will be changes in caregiver depressive symptoms, measured with the Geriatric Depression Scale, and in caregiver burden using the Zarit caregiver burden interview.
The prevalence of dementia is increasing with the aging of the population and the absence of prevention or cure. Thus, the burden of dementia on caregivers is also increasing. Hispanics have a higher prevalence of dementia than non-Hispanic Whites (NHW), have higher caregiving burden, and may have less economic resources to cope with the caregiving burden. However, there is a paucity of evidence on the effectiveness of caregiver interventions in Hispanics. We propose to compare 2 interventions with evidence of efficacy, the New York University Caregiver intervention (NYUCI) and the translated Resources for Enhancing Caregivers Health Offering Useful Treatments (REACH OUT). The NYUCI is a family centered counseling intervention that focuses on reducing negative family interactions and improving family support of the primary caregiver. REACH OUT focuses on caregiver skills training through action-oriented formal problem solving, goal setting, and written action plans. The effectiveness of the NYUCI and the REACH OUT has never been compared. Thus, there is no way for caregivers to decide which intervention to choose. In addition, there is a paucity of data on the effectiveness of both interventions in Hispanics.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
OTHER
Masking
DOUBLE
Enrollment
221
All study participants were provided access to social support services at Riverstone Senior Life services
All participants received educational material about dementia and caregiving in addition to information about resources for persons with dementia and their caregivers, including resources at the Alzheimer's Association such as support groups, and clinical and service resources available citywide.
The first component consists of 2 individual and 4 family counseling sessions. These sessions last between 1 and 1.5 hours. The second component of the intervention is participation in a caregiver support group . The third component of the treatment is "ad hoc" counseling. New psychiatric and behavioral problems of patients, which are generally more stressful than the need for assistance with activities of daily living or physical limitations, often precipitate ad hoc calls from caregivers.
All aspects of the REACH OUT Intervention involve problem solving techniques and the development of written action plans. The goal of this intervention is to engage the caregiver in joint problem-solving with the objective of creating a written action plan targeting specific caregiving problems. The basic steps of problem solving are: 1.Define the problem. 2. Set goals 3. Brainstorm with caregiver and List possible solutions on a pad of paper, 4. Select solutions, 5. Develop an action plan based on these solutions, 6. Implement the action plan, track progress, and make adjustments as needed
Columbia University Medical Center
New York, New York, United States
Score on Geriatric Depression Scale
The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) is a 30-item self-report assessment used to identify depression in the elderly. The GDS questions are answered "yes" or "no", instead of a five-category response set. One point is assigned to each answer and the cumulative score is rated on a scoring grid. The grid sets a range of 0-9 as "normal", 10-19 as "mildly depressed", and 20-30 as "severely depressed".Higher scores indicate more depressive symptoms.
Time frame: 6 months
Score on Zarit Caregiver Burden Scale
Zarit Caregiver Burden Scale measures caregiver burden by asking caregivers to respond to a series of 22 questions about the impact of the patient's disabilities on their life. For each item, caregivers are to indicate how often they felt that way (never, rarely, sometimes, quite frequently, or nearly always). The Burden Interview is scored by adding the numbered responses of the individual items. Higher scores indicate greater caregiver distress. Estimates of the degree of burden can be made from preliminary findings: 0 - 20 (little or no burden), 21 - 40 (mild to moderate burden), 41 - 60 (moderate to severe burden), and 61 - 88 (severe burden).
Time frame: 6 months
Score on Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Physical Health Scale
The Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Physical Health Scale: For adults, each question has five response options ranging in value from one to five (for pediatrics and parent proxy it is 0 to 4). To find the total raw score for a short form with all questions answered, sum the values of the response to each question. For example, for the adult 10-item form, the lowest possible raw score is 10; the highest possible raw score is 50. T-Score distributions are standardized such that a 50 represents the average (mean) for the US general population, and the standard deviation around that mean is 10 points. A high score always represents more of the concept being measured. Higher scores indicate better health.
Time frame: 6 months
Score on Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)
The Perceived Stress Scale is a self-report measure of stress that would be used to measure caregiver stress. The total score is calculated by finding the sum of 10 items, reverse coding questions 4, 5, 7, \& 8. The PSS has a range of scores between 0 and 40. A higher score indicates more stress.
Time frame: 6 months
Score on the PROMIS Short Form (SF) Depression Scale
Depressive symptoms measured with the PROMIS SF Depression Scale: Each question has five response options ranging in value from one to five. To find the total raw score, sum the values of the response to each question. For example, for the eight-item form, the lowest possible raw score is 8; the highest possible raw score is 40. The total raw score is then converted into a T-score for each participant. The T-score rescales the raw score into a standardized score with a mean of 50 and a standard deviation (SD) of 10. A higher score means more depressive symptoms.
Time frame: 6 months
Total Score on Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9)
The PHQ-9 is the depression module, which scores each of the 9 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-IV criteria as "0" (not at all) to "3" (nearly every day). PHQ-9 scores of 5, 10, 15, and 20 represented mild, moderate, moderately severe, and severe depression, respectively. The range of the total score of the PHQ-9 is 0 to 27, with higher scores indicating more depressive symptoms.
Time frame: 6 months
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