Caring for Caregivers With Mind-body Exercise

Summary

This pilot study will lay the foundation for the first large-scale trial evaluating the psychosocial and physical health benefits of a widely available and promising Qigong intervention (Eight Brocades) for distressed cancer caregivers (CCGs). CCGs represent a well-defined, large and growing subset of a larger population of CGs that overlap greatly in the constellations of morbidities that lead to high levels of distress. The multi-modal nature of the Eight Brocades Qigong regimen explicitly targets both psychosocial and physical functional symptoms, thus expanding the scope of mind-body studies for CGs to date, which have largely focused on stress management and psychological well-being. This pilot study, and the eventual large-scale comparative effectiveness trial, explores the effectiveness of Qigong training delivered in both community-based group classes and through self-guided internet-based modules supplemented with one-on-one virtual learning support. This trial will be the first to explore the delivery of Qigong to caregivers using an internet-based program, potentially leading to wider accessibility to mind-body therapies, and providing an alternative to community-based group-class learning.

Conditions

• Caregiver Distress
• Physical Function
• Quality of Life

Interventions

OTHER

Baduanjin Qigong, Community-based

The Community-based Qigong group, will attend one 75 minute long Qigong class per week for 12 weeks. Additionally, participants practice Qigong at home for 20 minutes a day, 3 days a week. Printed materials will be provided to guide home practice.

OTHER

Baduanjin Qigong, Internet-based

The Internet-guided Qigong group will be given a computer tablet to access online Qigong classes. All participants assigned to this group will be provided with a tutorial to use the Qigong program by the research coordinator. Participants will be asked to follow a 40 minute long Qigong class twice a week for 12 weeks, and to practice an additional 20 minutes a day, 3 days a week. All sessions will be completed at home.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Brigham and Women's Hospital

  collaborator OTHER

• Texas Woman's University

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Houston

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Pinky Budhrani-Shani, PhD, MSN, RN · University of Houston

• Peter Wayne, PhD · Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

35 Years

Max Age

75 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2019-04-22

Primary Completion

2022-08-31

Completion

2022-08-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations