Effectiveness of a Telecare-based Intervention Programme in Supporting the Informal Caregivers of Community-dwelling Older Adults in Reducing Stress Level: Study Protocol for a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial
Overview
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Intervention
- Not specified
- Conditions
- Telemedicine
- Sponsor
- The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
- Enrollment
- 75
- Locations
- 1
- Primary Endpoint
- Stress level
- Status
- Completed
- Last Updated
- 2 years ago
Overview
Brief Summary
The primary caregivers of older adults provide intimate and immediate support when their loved one is in urgent need. Due to the full-time commitment in a caregiving role, the caregiver may not have extra time to join the onsite community services that are available to them in the daytime. With the support of advanced technology, telecare seems to be a convenient and easily accessible channel to provide individualized caregiving advice to the caregivers. This study examines the effectiveness of a telecare-based intervention programme for caregivers.
Detailed Description
Objectives: The primary caregivers of older adults provide intimate and immediate support when their loved one is in urgent need. Due to the full-time commitment in a caregiving role, the caregiver may not have extra time to join the onsite community services that are available to them in the daytime. With the support of advanced technology, telecare seems to be a convenient and easily accessible channel to provide individualized caregiving advice to the caregivers. This study examines the effectiveness of a telecare-based intervention programme for caregivers. Hypothesis to be tested: To test if the research team-developed telecare-based intervention programme is effective in reducing the stress level of caregivers. Design and subjects: This is a single-blinded, two-armed pilot randomized controlled trial. The subjects are people who are aged 18 or above, provide care to older adults aged ≥ 60 at least 4 hours per week for a minimum of 3 months, are capable to use smartphone to access the Internet, and are without psychiatric illnesses and cognitive impairment. Interventions: The intervention group receives the telecare intervention programme designed by the research team. The caregivers receive nurse case management supported by a community health-social service team and be able to access a peer-support discussion forum. The control group receives usual community services Primary outcome measure: Self-reported stress level; secondary outcome measures: self-efficacy, depression level, quality of life, and caregiving burden. Data analysis: independent t-test or Mann-Whitney U test will be used to determine the group differences in outcomes measurements between pre- and post-intervention. Intention-to-treat will be employed as the primary analysis in this study. Per-protocol (PP) analysis will be adopted as the secondary analysis and performed separately. Expected outcomes: Caregivers in the intervention group would benefit from the telecare-based programme with reduced stress level, depression level and caregiving burdens and yet enhanced self-efficacy and quality of life.
Investigators
Arkers, Wong
Principal investigator
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria
- •people who are aged ≥18 years old
- •understand and communicate in Cantonese
- •provide care to the older adults aged ≥60 at least 4 hours per week for a minimum of 3 months
- •smartphone user and know how to access the Internet
- •commit to attend bi-weekly, 15-30mins online meetings with the program providers over the 3-month period
- •willing to receive individual-specific video messages covering caregiving skills via WhatsApp
Exclusion Criteria
- •alcoholic drinkers or psychiatric drug users
- •illiterate (inability to write and read)
- •having psychiatric problems
- •having cognitive impairment as evidenced by scoring 22 or above in Hong Kong version of Montreal Cognitive Assessment
- •already participated in other telecare health or social programs
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Stress level
Time Frame: 3-month
Stress level will be measured by the 14-item Chinese version of Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). It has been applied extensively to measure the degree of perceived stress for informal caregivers. The total score ranges between 0 (minimum stress perceived) and 56 (maximum stress perceived), with a higher score representing a greater perceived stress level.
Secondary Outcomes
- Self-efficacy(3-month)
- Quality of life (general well-being of individual)(3-month)
- Caregiving burden(3-month)
- Depression(3-month)