Acquired Brain Injury, Caregivers
Conditions
Brief summary
The purpose of the present study is to conduct a two-arm Randomized Control Trial (RCT) comparing individuals receiving the 90Second Caregiver health letter, with a usual care (routine care received by caregivers) control group. The goals of the present study are: * To evaluate the effectiveness of the 90Second Caregiver health letter in improving caregiver's self-efficacy (primary outcome), savouring, and quality of life (secondary outcomes). * To evaluate the effectiveness of the 90Second Caregiver health letter in reducing caregiver's psychological strain and caregiver burden (secondary outcomes). * To examine the impact of levels of engagement with the 90Second Caregiver health letter on primary and secondary outcomes. * To assess the usability of the 90Second Caregiver health letter, as it relates to the relevance of topic, user friendliness, and appropriateness of the readability levels. * To evaluate psychometric properties of self-constructed measures in 90Second newsletter.
Detailed description
The present study will examine the effectiveness of the 90Second Caregiver health letter in increasing self-efficacy in a sample of informal caregivers of ABI survivors in Nova Scotia. Participants in this study will be recruited from the Caring Forward Trials within Cohort Study (REB#1025253). The study is funded by the Nova Scotia Department of Health and Wellness.
Interventions
BEHAVIORAL90Second Caregiver health letter
Participant receives the weekly health letter via email
Sponsors
IWK Health Centre
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Masking description
In sequence of eligibility, participants will be randomized to the treatment arm or the control arm, with a 1:1 allocation ratio stratified by gender. The randomization sequence will be generated by a trained person that is not related to the study participants in any way. The investigators and study staff will be blinded to the randomization sequence until the end of the study. Participant randomization will be performed in REDCap. REDCap maintains an automated audit trail which includes the assigned study identification number, treatment allocation, and date and time of the allocation assignment.
Intervention model description
The investigators will conduct a two-arm Randomized Control Trial (RCT), comparing a group assigned to receive the 90Second Caregiver Caregiver health letter, with a usual care control group.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Participant is currently enrolled in the Caring Forward Trials within Cohort study (REB#1025253) * Participant has agreed to be contacted for future studies by Dr. McGrath's staff * Participant has agreed for their data to be used for future studies * Participant has mild levels of distress, as indicated by mild scores on the DASS-21 and/or the ZBI-SF
Exclusion criteria
* Participant is NOT currently enrolled in the Caring Forward Trials within Cohort study (REB#1025253) * Participant has NOT agreed to be contacted for future studies by Dr. McGrath's staff * Participant has NOT agreed for their data to be used in future studies * Participant does NOT report mild levels of distress, as indicated by mild scores on the DASS-21 and/or the ZBI-SF
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Caregiving self-efficacy | [Time Frame: At baseline.] | The Controlling Upsetting Thoughts about Caregiving subscale from the 15-item Revised Scale for Caregiving Self-Efficacy (RSCSE; Steffen et al. 2002), that measure caregivers level of confidence with higher scores indicating higher levels of self-efficacy. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Psychological strain | [Time Frame: At baseline.] | The Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21; Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995), a 21-item self-report measure that will assess caregiver's levels of psychological strain over the last week in three distinct categories; depression (e.g. hopelessness, depressed mood), anxiety (e.g. fear, anticipation of negative events), and stress (e.g. prolonged state of arousal, difficulty relaxing). |
| Caregiver burden | [Time Frame: At baseline.] | The Zarit Burden Interview-Short Form (ZBI-SF; Bedard et al., 2001), a 12-item measure that assesses individuals' perceived burden of providing care to their loved one. |
| Savouring | [Time Frame: At baseline.] | The Savouring Configuration Inventory (SCI; Lauzon & Green-Demers, 2020), which measures hedonic savouring, and eudaimonic savouring of meaning of life, spirituality, self-reflection, inspiration, appreciation, and gratitude. It comprises 28 scenarios (4 subscales), paired with a single item. |
| Overall quality of life and general health | [Time Frame: At baseline.] | The World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment -BREF (WHOQOL-BREF; Whoqol Group, 1998), a 26-item measure that assesses quality of life in four distinct domains: physical health, psychological health, social relationships and the environment. A weighted summary score from 0-100 is calculated for each domain, with higher scores indicating higher quality of life. |
Other
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Usability of the 90Second Caregiver health letter | through study completion, an average of 1 year | The current study will also assess the usability of the 90Second Caregiver health letter by evaluating the relevance of topic, learnability, and acceptability of the program. The usability questionnaire was developed for the current study. |
Countries
Canada
Outcome results
None listed