MindWalk Intervention for Older South Asian Caregivers of People With Cognitive Disabilities (CD)

Summary

Older South Asian family caregivers experience elevated psychological stress and limited physical activity (PA) due to caregiving responsibilities and additional factors such as lack of access to services, cultural/linguistic barriers, stigma and discrimination. South Asian family caregivers are especially underserved and are a growing ethnic group in the US. Both PA and cognitive training (CT) have shown to improve cognitive function in older adults who experience cognitive function decline because of psychological stress. However, there are no studies using this approach for this population. We propose a randomized control trial pilot study to address this gap. Driven by a Community Advisory Committee (CAC) we will develop this 12-week mindful walking intervention using a participatory methodology in partnership with UIC's Cognition Behavior and Mindfulness Clinic that combines the PA of walking and the CT through mindfulness. We will recruit fifty participants and will randomly and equally assign 25 people to the intervention and 25 people to the control group. The intervention will include: 1) a mindful walking training followed by 2) a prescribed mindful walking regimen, 3) self-reporting of adherence to regimen by the participants using activity logbooks and use of a user-friendly PA tracker (Fitbit) for daily step count, and 4) personalized text messages with reminders and motivational messages for participants to do the mindful walking as prescribed including a weekly check-in call or text message for accountability. The primary aim of the proposed pilot study is to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the protocol and intervention implementation. A secondary aim will evaluate the intervention to examine preliminary efficacy in reduction of psychological stress, improvement in cognitive function, increase in physical activity, and increased self-efficacy (self-efficacy for coping with stress, self-efficacy for physical activity, and overall self-efficacy). The findings of this pilot project will provide evidence-based data to support a larger scale study proposal for future funding such as the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) field initiative award, or the National Institute of Health (NIH) Research Project Grant (R21 NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Award) award, especially National Institute on Aging (NIA) grants.

Conditions

• Stress, Psychological
• Cognitive Decline

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

MindWalk Intervention

The intervention will include: 1) a mindful walking training followed by 2) a prescribed mindful walking regimen, 3) self-reporting of adherence to regimen by the participants using activity logbooks and use of a user-friendly PA tracker (Fitbit) for daily step count, and 4) personalized text messages with reminders and motivational messages for participants to do the mindful walking as prescribed including a weekly check-in call or text message for accountability.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute on Aging (NIA)

  collaborator NIH

• University of Illinois at Chicago

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Sumithra Murthy · University of Illinois at Chicago

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

45 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2023-10-31

Primary Completion

2026-12-31

Completion

2026-12-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations