Burnout, Caregiver, Quality of Life
Conditions
Keywords
Stress, Caregiver Burden, Alzheimer's Disease Caregiver, Informal Caregiver, Anxiety, Heart-Focused Breathing
Brief summary
This research study will explore the effects of an online heart-focused breathing intervention on 20 informal caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's Disease (AD) over a period of two weeks.
Detailed description
Informal caregivers are often live-in, unpaid spouses, relatives, partners, or friends that help with a loved one's activities of daily living. As a result of caring for a person with Alzheimer's Disease (AD), many informal caregivers experience caregiver burden. The demanding physical, emotional, and financial responsibilities to care for an AD patient can be detrimental to the caregiver's health. A group of 20 men and women who consider themselves the primary caregiver of a person with AD will be recruited and enrolled into the study. Participants will be randomized into one of two study arms, (a) the modified-waitlist control arm or (b) the intervention arm. The study will explore the effects of an online heart-focused breathing intervention on heart rate variability (measured by the Welltory app on their smart device), perceived burden, stress, and quality of life in the intervention arm over a two-week period.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALOnline Heart-Focused Breathing Intervention
Participants will receive an online standardized HeartMath© heart-focused breathing intervention.
Sponsors
Arizona State University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)
Masking description
Only participants will be blinded as to which study arm he or she was assigned.
Intervention model description
Randomized controlled trial in which participants will be randomized into (a) the modified waitlist-control arm or (b) the intervention arm.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Male or female * 18 years of age or older * Live-in and unpaid informal caregiver to a loved one with Alzheimer's Disease * Provides care or supervision for at least 4 hours per day for more than 6 months * Experiencing stress
Exclusion criteria
* Caregivers who report a low risk assessment score and/or report a medically diagnosed arrhythmia or have a pacemaker will be excluded
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Caregiver Burden | 2 weeks | Caregiver Burden will be measured by the Zarit Burden Interview short version (12 items, 5-point Likert scale; 0= never, 4= nearly always). Score range= 0 to 48. A score of 17 or higher indicates a high level of burden. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Life Quality | 2 weeks | Quality of Life will be measured by the Arizona Integrative Outcomes Scale (AIOS) (2-items, visual analogue scale; 0 millimeters= worst you have ever been, 100 millimeters= best you have ever been). Score range= 0 to 200. The AIOS asks participants to reflect on their sense of well-being over the past 24 hours and over the past month. |
| Perceived Stress | 2 weeks | Perceived Stress will be measured by the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) (10 items, 5-point Likert scale; 0= never, 4= very often). Score range= 0 to 40. The PSS has a general score by combining all item scores and reverse scoring items 4, 5, 7, and 8. The PSS has two subscales, one for perceived distress (items 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 10) and one for perceived coping (4, 5, 7, 8). A higher general score is associated with a higher level of stress. |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed