Delivery Models of Caregiver Support and Education

Summary

The proposed study seeks to compare usual care and two different interventions for caregivers (CGs) of Veterans with dementia that are brief and administered by telephone. In the first intervention, care management (i.e., assistance from a nurse or social worker who works with the CG and Veteran's primary care providers), support, psychoeducation, and skills training are tailored to each individual CG and delivered on an individual basis. In the second intervention, care management is tailored and delivered to each individual CG, but support, psychoeducation, and skills training are delivered (also by phone) in a group format. This study will allow us to examine the added benefit of participating in a CG group that provides mutual peer support and feedback. The investigators also will evaluate the extent to which spousal vs. adult child CGs respond differently to the two interventions. Findings will help refine patient/CG-centered care management and support programs designed to facilitate access to services and improve the quality of life of Veterans with dementia and their families.

Conditions

• Dementia

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Group Delivered TEP

All TEP modules will be in a group format. Each call will take 1.5-2 hours. Each group will be comprised of 5-8 CGs who will call into a teleconference line at a pre-specified time. Groups will include spouse/partner-only or adult child-only CGs. The content of the calls will mirror those in the individual TEP delivered program. In addition to the group calls, they will receive individual care management.

BEHAVIORAL

Individual Delivered TEP

Two mandatory modules that cover the stages of dementia and provide a brief introduction to problem solving techniques, action plan development, and coping skills, plus a menu of additional modules covering various content areas evaluated during the course of the monthly assessments (e.g., communication skills, behavioral management techniques, stress management and coping skills, longterm planning, etc.). Each individual TEP session will begin with reviewing education related to the selected module. The remainder of each session will involve coaching the caregiver on emotion-focused and problem focused coping strategies. The care manager will also discuss problem solving with the CG to reinforce the action plan and the educational component of the intervention.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• VA Office of Research and Development

  lead FED

Principal Investigators

• Shahrzad Mavandadi, PhD · Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2016-05-13

Primary Completion

2020-10-13

Completion

2021-02-24

Countries

• United States

Study Locations