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Improving Quality of Informal Care for People With Schizophrenia

NCT07781748 · Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 228

Last updated 2026-08-25

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if a new support program can improve the quality of informal care for people with schizophrenia in rural China. Informal care means the unpaid care given by family members. Quality of care involves both the care that family members give and the care that people with schizophrenia receive. The study also looks at whether the program improves the health and well-being of both groups.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

1. Does the support program improve the quality of care that family caregivers provide and that people with schizophrenia receive?
2. Does the program improve the health and well-being of people with schizophrenia and their caregivers?

Researchers will compare three groups to see which works best:

1. A full support program with health education, physical activities, and spiritual activities
2. A program with health education only
3. A control group that receives only routine care

Each person with schizophrenia takes part together with their family caregiver as a pair. Participants will:

1. Take part in an 8-week program in their community
2. Answer survey questions three times: before the program, right after it ends, and 6 months later
3. Some participants will also join interviews to share their experiences

Conditions

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Dyadic Multicomponent Intervention (DMI)

An 8-week program delivered face-to-face to each person-with-schizophrenia and informal-caregiver dyad together, one 120-minute session per week. Each session combines three components: Dyadic Benefit-Finding Intervention (psychoeducation and positive reappraisal, 60 minutes), Dyadic Exercise Intervention (guided mind-body exercise such as Qigong, Tai Chi, or Baduanjin, 30 minutes), and Dyadic Spiritual Training (mindfulness and life review, 30 minutes). Content is tailored to each dyad and delivered by a trained team of psychiatrists, exercise physiologists, and social workers.

BEHAVIORAL

Dyadic Benefit-Finding Intervention (DBFI)

An 8-week program delivered face-to-face to each person-with-schizophrenia and informal-caregiver dyad together, one 60-minute session per week. It provides psychoeducation about schizophrenia and caregiving, benefit-finding diaries, and guided practice in positive reappraisal, helping dyads recognize positive experiences and coping resources. This arm does not include the exercise or spiritual training components. It is delivered by a trained team of psychiatrists and social workers.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Chinese University of Hong Kong

    lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
SINGLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2027-07-01
Primary Completion
2028-11-30
Completion
2029-05-31

Countries

  • China

Study Locations

More Related Trials

Entities

Diseases

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT07781748 on ClinicalTrials.gov