Abstract
Objective: The current study translated the Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer’s Caregiver Health: Offering Useful Treatments (REACH OUT), a skills-building stress and burden intervention, for the primary care setting and pilot the resulting intervention. Methods: The 16-week intervention consisted of a combination of clinic-based group and one-on-one sessions offered within a medical home, geriatrics clinic. A quasi-experimental pre- and post-test study design without a control group tested the resulting intervention. Semi-structured qualitative exit interviews evaluated program satisfaction. Results: Twenty-five caregivers participated in one of four intervention groups; 21 caregivers completed the intervention (attended at least five of six group sessions). Caregiver burden on standardized assessments was significantly reduced between pre- and post-intervention, specifically for physical/emotional strain and caregiving uncertainty. Significant reductions were found in the frequency of reported disruptive behaviors; increased caregiver confidence in handling behavior problem frequency, depressive symptoms, disruptive behaviors, and memory-related problems; and decreased bother with respect to behavioral problem frequency and care recipient depression. Program satisfaction was high. Conclusion: This work suggests that the REACH OUT program can be successfully modified for use within a primary-care medical home setting.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1483-1492 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Aging and Mental Health |
Volume | 25 |
Issue number | 8 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2021 |
Keywords
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Caregivers
- burden
- medical home
- stress
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Phychiatric Mental Health
- Gerontology
- Geriatrics and Gerontology
- Psychiatry and Mental health