Cognitive-behavioral intervention for homebound caregivers of persons with dementia.
BACKGROUND
Family caregivers experience considerable stress in their management of specific behaviors of persons with dementia.


OBJECTIVE
To examine the effects of an 8-week cognitive-behavioral (C-B) intervention tailored to the specific deficits of persons with dementia (PWDs) on selected outcomes for homebound caregivers and the functional status of the PWD.


METHODS
The design was a two-group randomized trial with measures taken at baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks, and 12 weeks. Subjects were 65 caregiver-care recipient dyads. A majority of the 65 female caregivers were spouses with a mean age of 66.5 years. Thirty-one women who received the C-B intervention were compared to 34 who received the attention-only (A-O) placebo telephone calls. Coping strategies, perceptions of caregiver burden and satisfaction, and emotional and physical health were assessed at the four points in time.


RESULTS
Results indicated a time by group interaction in depression, with less depression in the C-B than the A-O group. Both groups experienced a significant reduction in anxiety, and a significant consistent decrease in satisfaction over time. Both groups also demonstrated decreased use of emotion-focused coping strategies.


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest a plausible effectiveness of the C-B intervention in preventing the progression of depression. Suggestions for future research are provided.
Chang
B L
BL
School of Nursing, University of California, Los Angeles 90095-6918, USA. Bchang@sonnet.ucla.edu
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003071:Cognition; D003704:Dementia / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology; D003863:Depression / Q000451:nursing / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D018577:Homebound Persons / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010352:Patient Dropouts / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013997:Time Factors