A Ten-Week Online Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Intervention for Family Caregivers of People With Dementia

Purpose

This randomized controlled trial aims to assess the effects of a coach-guided ten-week videoconferencing acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) program on mental health outcomes in depressed family caregivers of people with dementia (PwD) compared to the control group. A total of 64 family caregivers of PwD who meet the eligibility criteria will be recruited and randomized to either the intervention group or the control group. The hypotheses are that the ACT group will show improvements in depressive symptoms, other mental health outcomes, and ACT process measures at posttest and 3-month follow-up, compared to the control group.

Condition

  • Depressive Symptoms

Eligibility

Eligible Ages
Over 18 Years
Eligible Genders
All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
No

Inclusion Criteria

  • community-dwelling adults (age 18 or over) who are currently taking the primary responsibility for the care of a relative with dementia living in the community - having at least mild depression as measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)-9 - having a computer or a smartphone with the internet access at home and - being able to provide informed consent

Exclusion Criteria

  • having cognitive, physical, or sensory deficits or language barriers (non-English communicator) that impede study participation - having psychiatric hospitalizations or diagnoses of mental illness in the previous two years - taking antipsychotic or anticonvulsant medication at the time of recruitment - considering or planning to place family members of PwD in a nursing home within 6 months or - having the possibility of study dropouts due to medical conditions of caregivers (e.g., surgery that may affect mental health) and their relatives with dementia (e.g., conditions that may impede study participation due to frequent hospitalization or death)

Study Design

Phase
N/A
Study Type
Interventional
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention Model
Parallel Assignment
Primary Purpose
Treatment
Masking
Double (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)

Arm Groups

ArmDescriptionAssigned Intervention
Experimental
Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) group
10 weekly ACT sessions individually guided by a trained coach through Zoom videoconferencing with psychoeducation materials provided
  • Behavioral: Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)
    Caregivers assigned to this intervention group will receive individual ACT sessions guided by a trained coach for one hour per week over 10 weeks through Zoom videoconferencing with psychoeducation materials provided.
Sham Comparator
Psychoeducation control group
Care as usual with psychoeducation materials provided
  • Behavioral: Psychoeducation
    The psychoeducation control group will receive care as usual with psychoeducation materials provided.

Recruiting Locations

University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama 35294
Contact:
Areum Han, PhD
205-975-2882
ahan@uab.edu

More Details

Status
Recruiting
Sponsor
University of Alabama at Birmingham

Study Contact

Areum Han, PhD
205-975-2882
ahan@uab.edu

Detailed Description

This randomized controlled trial aims to assess the effects of a coach-guided ten-week videoconferencing acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) program on mental health outcomes in depressed family caregivers of people with dementia (PwD) compared to the control group. A total of 64 family caregivers of PwD who meet the eligibility criteria will be recruited and randomized to either the intervention group or the control group. Caregivers randomly assigned to the intervention group will receive individual ACT sessions guided by a trained coach for one hour per week over 10 weeks through Zoom videoconferencing with supplemental psychoeducation materials provided. Caregivers randomly assigned to the control group will receive care as usual with psychoeducation materials provided during the study period. Outcomes regarding caregivers' mental health and ACT processes will be collected at three time points (i.e., pretest, posttest, and 3-month follow-up) and compared between groups over time. The hypotheses are that the ACT group will show improvements in depressive symptoms, other mental health outcomes, and ACT process measures at posttest and 3-month follow-up, compared to the control group.