Coaching Dementia Caregivers to Master Care-Resistant Behavior

Purpose

266 family caregivers will be randomly assigned to either immediate intervention or delayed intervention groups. All caregivers will complete baseline surveys and 3 weeks of daily diaries. The immediate intervention group will receive 12 weeks of CuRB-IT. They will complete 3 rounds of 3-week daily diaries followed by an intermittent survey at 12 week intervals for the next 33 weeks. The delayed intervention group will receive 12 weeks of attention, complete 1 round of 3-week daily diaries followed by an intermittent survey, then complete 12 weeks of CuRB-IT, and complete 2 rounds of 3--week daily diaries followed by an intermittent survey at 12-week intervals for the next 18 weeks.

Conditions

  • Care-resistant Behavior
  • Dementia

Eligibility

Eligible Ages
Between 18 Years and 95 Years
Eligible Genders
All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Inclusion Criteria

  • 1)Caregiver of any race or gender who is aged >18 years - 2) provides unpaid care, - 3) cares for a spouse/common-law, sibling, parent or grandparent (or in-law, aged 60+ years), - 4) lives with or shares cooking facilities with the care recipient, - 5) Care recipient has mild cognitive impairment or dementia as identified using the Quick Dementia Rating System instrument, - 6) the care provided consists of help with at least 2 Instrumental Activities of Daily Living or one Activity of Daily Living, - 7) the care recipient is resistant to receiving assistance with, or refuses to do, at least one instrumental or activity of daily living

Exclusion Criteria

  • 1) persons who cannot speak/read English - 2) who do not have reliable access to a smart phone or internet

Study Design

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

Arm Groups

ArmDescriptionAssigned Intervention
Experimental
Immediate Intervention
Complete baseline survey, complete 3 weeks of daily diaries and intermittent survey, receive 12 weeks of CurB-IT, then complete 3 rounds of 21-day daily diaries and intermittent surveys while receiving attention during the 12-week intervals between daily diaries.
  • Behavioral: CuRB-IT
    9 1-hour coaching sessions delivered over a videoconferencing platform (Zoom); 6 delivered weekly, 3 delivered biweekly
Active Comparator
Delayed intervention
Complete baseline survey, complete 3 weeks of daily diaries, receive 12 weeks of attention, complete 3 weeks of daily diaries and 1 intermittent survey, receive 12 weeks of CurB-IT, then complete 2 rounds of 21-day daily diaries and intermittent surveys while receiving attention during the 12-week intervals between daily diaries.
  • Behavioral: CuRB-IT
    9 1-hour coaching sessions delivered over a videoconferencing platform (Zoom); 6 delivered weekly, 3 delivered biweekly

Recruiting Locations

University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama 35244
Contact:
Rita A Jablonski, PhD
205-975-9019
rajablon@uab.edu

More Details

Status
Recruiting
Sponsor
University of Alabama at Birmingham

Study Contact

Rita A Jablonski, PhD
205-975-9019
rajablon@uab.edu

Detailed Description

The purposes of the delayed-intervention randomized clinical trial (N=266) are to: Care-Resistant Behavior Internet Training (CuRB-IT). 1. examine the efficacy of CuRB-IT in increasing the self-efficacy of family caregivers of persons living with dementia to handle care-resistant behaviors (CRB); 2. further test the efficacy of CuRB-IT in improving caregivers coping strategies (a) among the experimental (immediate-intervention group) as compared to the control (delayed-intervention group) (between groups) and (b) within-person from pre- to post- intervention; 3. examine intervention decay at 3- and 6-months post intervention to determine performance of intervention and inform scheduling of booster sessions; 4. assess the efficacy of the CuRB-IT intervention in preventing onset of poor coping strategies by family caregivers; 5. test the hypothesized mechanism of action that increased CRB self-efficacy and use of CuRB-IT problem-focused coping strategies mediate the relationship between CRB stress appraisal and caregiving activities.