None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Aims This study aims to: 1) develop and examine the feasibility and effect of a psycho-education intervention delivered via mobile application for family caregivers of people with dementia on caregiver burden, coping strategies, depression, gain in caregiving, distress caused by BPSD, and frequency and severity of BPSD over a 3-month follow-up; and 2) examine family caregivers’ appraisal and perceived benefits of the intervention. Hypotheses Primary outcomes When compared with the routine care control group across two time points (immediately and 3-month post intervention), the intervention group will have significantly: lower level of caregiver burden, and higher level of coping strategies. Secondary outcomes When compared with the routine care control group across two time points (immediately and 3-month post intervention), the intervention group will have significantly: lower level of depression, higher level of gain in caregiving, lower level of distress caused by BPSD, and reduction in the frequency and severity of BPSD
Interventions
Participants will receive an 8-week psycho-educational intervention delivered through mobile application. The aim of the intervention is to help caregivers learn behaviour management skills in order to manage behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) in people living with dementia (PLWD), and provide them with knowledge about dementia and psychological support. While the content of mobile application is developed partly based on a previous program conducted by the chief investig
Participants will receive an 8-week psycho-educational intervention delivered through mobile application. The aim of the intervention is to help caregivers learn behaviour management skills in order to manage behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) in people living with dementia (PLWD), and provide them with knowledge about dementia and psychological support. While the content of mobile application is developed partly based on a previous program conducted by the chief investigator, the app will be developed using novel ways of interaction between the caregiver and program. This application consists of three components: (1) information about dementia such as causes, sign and symptoms, available community resources, fall prevention and long-term caregiving issues; (2) the application with 10 scenarios 3-dimension simulation and animated videos about management of the common behaviour problems anxiety and agitation, aggression, confusion, repetition, suspicion, wandering, sleep problems, searching or hiding things, hallucination and delusion, and refusal; and (3) interactive learning sessions. Topics covered in the interactive learning sessions include: (1) Introduction to Dementia and BPSD, (2) Behaviour Management Strategies, (3) Problem-solving Skills, (4) Communication Skills, (5) Pleasant Events Scheduling, (6) Managing Caregiver Stress, (7) Emotional Coping Strategies, and (8) Positive Aspects of Caregiving. The application will be available 24 hours every day for the duration of the intervention. Participants will be able to access the application as much as they wish to during the intervention. One week before the intervention starts, a face to face demonstration on how to download and use the mobile application will be provided to all participants. They are advised to complete one session every week and to complete the eight sessions within eight weeks. All participants will receive weekly telephone call to remind them to complete each session, address issues encountered when using the mobile application.
Sponsors
University of Newcastle
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Educational / counselling / training
Masking
Blinded (masking used) (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Participants will be the primary family caregivers of the person with dementia with mild to moderate stage of dementia as determined by the geriatrician/neurologist/psychiatrist. Family caregivers can be the PLWD’s spouse, child, daughter/son in-law, or sibling. The inclusion criteria for family caregiver include (1) age 18 and above; (2) care for a person with dementia, who has three or more behavior problems at home as assessed by Neuropsychiatric Inventory questionnaire (NPI-Q); (3) have access to a smart phone (such as iPhone or Android phone) or tablet computer (such as iPad or Samsung Galaxy Note) and know how to use download applications from application distribution platforms (i.e. Apple AppStore or Google Play Store); (4) able to understand English.
Exclusion criteria
The family caregiver will be excluded if they are suffering from any mental illness or major physical illnesses such as cancer.
Outcome results
None listed