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BACKGROUND/RATIONALE:
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive brain disease resulting in cognitive and functional decline. While some pharmacological agents and behavioral programs are now available to slow the rate of decline, there is no cure. Caregivers, who typically are the female spouses or daughters of afflicted individuals, must confront both the deterioration of a loved one, and that person's need for increasingly demanding care. Caregivers tend to experience high levels of depression, anxiety, and burden. Current data suggest that providing education, social support, and ongoing professional consultation to families involved in the care of a relative with AD results in improvement in caregiver psychological status, and sometimes even slows the functional decline of the patient. Recent technological advancements in video conferencing, online communication, and streaming audio/video presentations, which are increasingly easy to use and gaining widespread acceptance among mental health professionals as well as the public, have given rise to a great deal of interest in telemedicine and telepsychiatry.
OBJECTIVE(S):
Building on our work in schizophrenia, this study aims to test an Internet-based family intervention for AD that relatives can access from their homes through the world-wide web with ease, and at no cost. In addition to improving patient outcomes through instruction of effective behavioral management, we propose that participation in an Internet program will also reduce caregiver depression and burden. The overriding long-term objective is to develop an effective online education and support program for caregivers of patients with AD that can be manualized, replicated, and disseminated to other clinical and research centers, within both the VA health care system and the community, to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of psychosocial treatment in AD.
METHODS:
This project involves a unique collaboration between AD scientists and family intervention specialists. Two hundred and four veterans and non-veterans with a clinical diagnosis of AD/ADRD and their caregiver/key relative will be randomized to receive one of two interventions: (1) access to an intensive, interactive online education and support website intervention for 12 months
(2)customary care (cc) and monthly telephone contact with project staff. We hypothesize that participation in the intensive intervention will result in a slower rate of functional decline in patients and a reduction in depression, burden, and negative responses to problematic patient behaviors in their caregivers.
FINDINGS/RESULTS:
No definitive findings at this early phase of the study.
IMPACT:
No results at this time.
PUBLICATIONS:
None at this time.
DRA:
Aging and Age-Related Changes, Health Services and Systems
DRE:
Treatment, Technology Development and Assessment, Communication and Decision Making
Keywords:
Behavior (patient), Caregivers – not professionals, Dementia
MeSH Terms:
none
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