Learning Skills Together Pilot Study

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio41 enrolled

Overview

The Learning Skills Together (LST) program is a synchronous web-based educational intervention developed to address the essential need for training to equip family caregivers to someone with mid-stage Alzheimer's disease to confidently provide complex care tasks.The purpose of this pilot study is to evaluate the feasibility of delivering LST, the program's acceptability to caregivers, and likelihood of effecting caregivers self-efficacy and mastery.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

Conditions

Family Caregiving Complex Care Self Efficacy Intervention

Interventions

Learning Skills TogetherBEHAVIORAL

Information provided in arm/group description.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Family member (including families of choice) to an individual living with Alzheimer's disease who has received a diagnosis from a physician * Ages 18 and old * Provides assistance with at least two instrumental activities of daily living or one activity of daily living * Care recipient is described as being within mid-stage Alzheimer's Disease * There are no plans to place the care recipient in a skilled nursing facility within the next 3 months Exclusion Criteria: * The caregiver is paid to provide care * The caregiver does not have reliable access to a computer and internet * The caregiver is unable to read and speak English

Locations (1)

UT Health San Antonio

San Antonio, Texas, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Change in Caregiver Competency

This will be measured using the Caregiving Competence Scale. This measure includes 3-items pertaining to caregiver's confidence (e.g., "I feel confident that I am meeting the needs of my relative"). There are five response options to each statement ("Strongly Disagree" \[1\] to "Strongly Agree" \[5\]), such that scores may range from 3 to 15. A lower score indicates a lower level of confidence that the caregiver is meeting their relative's needs (i.e., higher scores are better). The outcome measure will use the average change score from baseline scores.

Time frame: Change from baseline to 4 weeks post-intervention; and to 8 weeks post-intervention

Change in Caregiver Mastery

This will be measured using the Caregiver Mastery Scale. This 7-item scale asks participants the extent to which they feel they have control over various parts of their lives (e.g., "I have little control over the things that happen to me"). Participants may respond that they "Strongly Disagree (1) to Strongly agree (4) with each statement, such that scores range from 7 to 28. The lower the score, the less control the caregiver feels that they have control (i.e., higher scores are better). The mean score for this measure among caregivers to frail older adults was previously reported as 19.42 (SD 3.29), with Cronbach's alpha of 0.78. The outcome measure will use the average change score from baseline scores.

Time frame: Change from baseline to 4 weeks post-intervention; and to 8 weeks post-intervention

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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