Testing Tele-Savvy, an On-line Psychoeducation Program for Dementia Family Caregivers

Summary

The purpose of this study is to test the psychoeducational program "Tele-Savvy." Tele-Savvy is an internet based, group education program developed from an in person program called Savvy Caregiver. Participants will be randomly assigned to either the Tele-Savvy group (receiving only the Tele-Savvy education) or the Healthy Living Education Program (receiving healthy lifestyle education and then Tele-Savvy education 6 months later) or a usual care group (receiving Tele-Savvy education 6 months later). Each program takes 43 days to complete.

Conditions

• Alzheimer Disease
• Dementia

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Tele-Savvy

The Tele-Savvy program engages groups of six dementia family caregivers in a program that extends over 43 days. The program begins with a scheduled 75-minute group videoconference led by facilitators; similar group videoconferences then take place weekly for six weeks. In between the video-conferences, caregivers will receive daily emails with links to 5-15 minute on-line video lessons that can be watched on their own schedule as often as they wish. The videoconferences allow caregivers to report enactment of learned and self-developed management strategy behaviors into their own caregiving and allow them to raise questions. Each daily video presents a teaching point linked to the overall curriculum. The lesson is carried forward by brief, scripted talks by experts or is enacted in vignettes in which a fictional family caring for a father living with Alzheimer's demonstrates effective caregiving techniques linked to the day's teaching points.

BEHAVIORAL

Healthy Living Education Program

The Healthy Living Education Program contains video and text materials on exercise, diet, and healthy living. Participants will be asked to log into the Canvas site daily over the course of six weeks to view the videos. Each participant will also receive 7 weekly brief scripted phone or video calls from a project facilitator to inquire about participants' use of the materials. Additionally, all participants will convene weekly for a video conference centered on the application of healthy living strategies. Facilitators will greet and check in with each of the caregivers, coach and debrief caregivers on the homework, answer questions and/or respond to feedback about the week's material, review key points and concepts from the week's video sessions and introduce new material, report on any activities that caregivers may have implemented based on the materials, and provide homework assignments.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute on Aging (NIA)

  collaborator NIH

• Emory University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Kenneth Hepburn, PhD · Emory University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2017-05-18

Primary Completion

2020-12-04

Completion

2020-12-04

Countries

• United States

Study Locations