Project Description:
The majority of dementia care is provided at home by family members. While caregivers report benefits of providing care, they also note care-related stress and negative effects on other areas of their lives. As informed by caregivers with lived experience, we categorize mental, physical, and relational wellbeing as three key domains that may be negatively impacted by dementia caregiving. Transdiagnostic interventions are those that target more than one outcome or domain via common underlying mechanisms. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), a transdiagnostic intervention validated by 1000+ randomized control trials, is a viable approach for improving a myriad of psychological, physical and relational concerns in dementia caregivers which can be delivered effectively online in an easily scalable and cost-effective manner, providing an innovative solution to well-documented barriers to accessing support among dementia caregivers.
This mixed-methods pragmatic randomized controlled trial (RCT) will be conducted with participatory action research methods. This project will address the following research aims:
1) Determine the efficacy of an online, self-guided ACT for Caregivers program for improving dementia caregivers' mental, physical, and relational wellbeing. We hypothesize that between-persons comparisons (treatment-to-waitlist conditions) and within-person examinations of quantitative and qualitative data will show improved and sustained mental, physical, and relational wellbeing over time (Phase 1).
2) Determine methods to improve the dissemination and implementation of ACT for Caregivers, including in rural regions. Through survey data (e.g., quantitative and open-ended questions) and qualitative interviews with caregivers, we anticipate gaining actionable insights to improving the implementation and dissemination of ACT for Caregivers in general, and for difficult-to-reach groups (Phase 1).
3) Determine the feasibility and acceptability of a care-dyad "Bonus Session" and examine improvements in wellbeing for caregivers and their loved ones with ADRD. Following the completion of Phase 1, caregivers will be invited to opt into Phase 2. We hypothesize that a minimum of 30% of caregivers will opt in to Phase 2. We hypothesize that for both persons, qualitative data will demonstrate acceptability, and quantitative data will demonstrate significant within-person improvements in mental health from pretest to posttest and follow-up.
