Knowledge and Interpersonal Skills to Develop Exemplary Relationships (KINDER): Pilot Study

Not Applicable

Completed

Conditions: Relation, Family
Elder Abuse
Dementia
Caregiver Burden

Interventions: Behavioral: Knowledge and Interpersonal Skills to Develop Exemplary Relationships

Registration Number: NCT05783102

Lead Sponsor: Case Western Reserve University

Brief Summary: The purpose of this study is to determine the feasibility and acceptability of delivering the KINDER intervention to family caregivers to persons living with dementia. Further, the investigators will examine the preliminary efficacy of the KINDER intervention at improving caregiver resourcefulness, relationship quality, and quality of care, including reduction of potential verbal-type elder mistreatment.

During this study, participants will be asked to complete two (2) 30- to 45-minute surveys asking about their demographic information, caregiving situations, and relationship with the care recipient. The first survey will be sent within two weeks of beginning the KINDER intervention, the second will be sent within one week after participants complete the KINDER intervention so we can compare outcomes.

Detailed Description: Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: COMPLETED

Sex: All

Target Recruitment: 45

Inclusion Criteria

Is age 18+
Provides care to a family member or friend living with Alzheimer's Disease or a related dementia.
Helps with at least 1 activity of daily living (e.g., bathing) or 2 instrumental activities of daily living (e.g., shopping)
Provides at least 8 hours of assistance to the care recipient per week
Does not intend to place the care recipient in a skilled nursing facility within 3 months of consenting into the study

Exclusion Criteria

Does not read and speak English
Cannot reliably access a computer and internet

Study & Design

Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL

Study Design: SINGLE_GROUP

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
KINDER Intervention	Knowledge and Interpersonal Skills to Develop Exemplary Relationships	KINDER is a 9-week psychoeducational intervention.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Resourcefulness	Change from baseline to post-intervention (within 2 weeks after the 9 weeks intervention).	Resourcefulness is measured using the 28-item Caregiver Resourcefulness Scale (α=0.85; Zauszniewski, 2006). This scale has two factors: one focused on help-seeking and another on self-help. Caregivers are asked the frequency at which they use different strategies to manage challenges, and may respond: Not at all like me (0), Pretty much not like me (1), A little bit not like me (2), A little bit like me (3), Pretty much like much like me (4), or Very much like me (5). Items are added together to create a total score. Scores range from 0 to 140, where higher scores indicate higher levels of resourcefulness. The outcome measure will use the average change score from baseline scores until the post-intervention survey.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Caregiving Relationship Strain	Change from baseline to post-intervention (within 2 weeks after the 9 weeks intervention).	Relationship strain will be measured using the 5-item Strain Scale of the Dyadic Relationship Scale (α=0.69; Reamy et al., 2011). Respondents are asked to indicate agreement with statements such as, "The patient made too many requests," and may indicate Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree, or Strongly Agree. The scale has a range of scores from 4 to 20, where higher scores indicate greater levels of relationship strain. The outcome measure will use the average change score from baseline scores until the post-intervention survey.
Quality of Caregiving	Change from baseline to post-intervention (within 2 weeks after the 9 weeks intervention).	Quality of caregiving will be measured with the Task Management Strategy Index (TMSI; α=0.74 to 0.81; McClendon \& Smyth, 2013). The 19-item TMSI was developed to assess caregivers' ability to manage their family member's functional disabilities. (Gitlin et al., 2002) Caregivers are asked how often they engage in strategies that support quality care. Caregivers indicate Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Often, or Always. Scores range from 19 to 95. Higher scores indicate higher quality of caregiving. The outcome measure will use the average change score from baseline scores until the post-intervention survey.
Frequency of Psychological Elder Mistreatment	Change from baseline to post-intervention (within 2 weeks after the 9 weeks intervention).	The investigators will use a modified version of the Conflict Tactics Scale 2 to measure psychological elder mistreatment (MCTS 2; α=0.79; Straus et al., 2016). Items include behaviors such as insulting, swearing at, or yelling at a partner. To measure a range of psychological elder mistreatment behaviors, we will add three items: ignoring the care recipient (DeLiema et al., 2012), threatening to isolate the care recipient (Acierno et al., 2010), and talking about the care recipient as if they are not there (Conrad et al., 2011). To describe the severity of mistreatment (Burnes et al., 2017), participants will be asked to describe the frequency of each behavior, such that response options will include: None, Once, Twice, 3 to 5 times, 6 to 10 times, and More than 10 times. Scores range from 0 to 50. Higher scores indicate higher quality of caregiving. The outcome measure will use the average change score from baseline scores until the post-intervention survey.