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E-bibliotherapy for Informal Caregivers of People With Dementia

Not Applicable
Not yet recruiting
Conditions
Caregiver Stress Syndrome
Psychological Well-Being
Dementia
Interventions
Other: Control
Other: E-bibliotherapy
Registration Number
NCT05927805
Lead Sponsor
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Brief Summary

The objective of this study is to test the efficacy of e-bibliotherapy on improving the psychological well-being of informal caregivers of people with dementia as compared with a control group.

Detailed Description

This project is a two-arm randomized controlled trial evaluating the effects of e-bibliotherapy on improving the psychological well-being of informal caregivers of people with dementia. One hundred and ninety-two informal caregivers of people with dementia will be recruited. Participants in the intervention group will receive eight weekly e-bibliotherapy sessions. The control group will get access to the same e-bibliotherapy app but accept only general daily living knowledge. Psychological well-being, caregiving appraisal, mental health, biomarker of stress, and health-related quality of life will be measured to test the effects of e-bibliotherapy immediately post-intervention, three months post-intervention, and six months post-intervention. Focus group interviews will be conducted immediately post-intervention to explore caregivers' experiences participating in this study.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
NOT_YET_RECRUITING
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
192
Inclusion Criteria
  • primary caregivers aged 18 or above;
  • provide unpaid regular care to a person with mild to moderately severe dementia (measured by Global Deterioration Scale, GDS=4~6);
  • have cared for the care recipient for at least six months;
  • assist with at least one of the care recipient's daily activities;
  • use a smartphone or tablet;
  • can read Chinese.
Exclusion Criteria
  • caregivers with unstable physical or mental conditions;
  • have cognitive impairment;
  • are undergoing acute treatment or have not yet stabilized on their chronic medication;
  • are involved in another interventional study

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Control groupControlEight weekly sessions of self-learning of general daily living knowledge that this different from the intervention contents from the same e-bibliotherapy app.
Intervention groupE-bibliotherapyEight weekly sessions of e-bibliotherapy. Participants in the intervention group will use the e-bibliotherapy app we develop, and accept e-bibliotherapy via the app.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Changes on psychological well-beingPre-intervention, immediately post-intervention, three and six-month post-intervention

Psychological well-being will be measured by the Chinese version of Ryff's Psychological Well-being Scale. It is a 6-point Likert scale with 1=strongly disagree to 6=totally agree. It includes 18 items. A higher score indicates better psychological well-being.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Changes on biomarker of stressPre-intervention, immediately post-intervention, three and six-month post-intervention

Saliva cortisol concentration will be used.

Changes on health-related quality of lifePre-intervention, immediately post-intervention, three and six-month post-intervention

Health-related quality of life will be measured by the 12-item Short Form Survey (SF-12). SF-12 includes 12 items. Scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better physical and mental health functioning.

Changes on caregiving appraisalPre-intervention, immediately post-intervention, three and six-month post-intervention

Caregiving appraisal will be measured by the Chinese version of the Caregiving Appraisal Scale. It is a 5-point Likert scale (1=extremly disagree, 5=strongly agree) including 26 items. Higher scores indicate more positive caregiving appraisal.

Changes on mental healthPre-intervention, immediately post-intervention, three and six-month post-intervention

Mental health will be measured by the Chinese version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21). DASS-21 is a 4-point Likert scale (0=totally unfit my condition, 3=very fit my condition). It includes 21 items. Higher scores indicate worse mental health problems.

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