Relaxation Therapy for Alzheimer's Caregivers

阿尔茨海默病护理人员的放松疗法

• 批准号: 6576061
• 负责人: SHARON L. LEWIS
• 金额: $ 10万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCIENCE CENTER
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 1997
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1997-01-15 至 2008-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/6576061
• 关键词: Alzheimer's disease; autogenic training; behavior therapy; behavioral /social science research tag; caregivers; clinical research; clinical trials; coping; galvanic skin response; human subject; human therapy evaluation; longitudinal human study; nursing research; patient oriented research; psychoneuroimmunology; psychophysiology; quality of life; relaxation; stress management

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Aging baby boomers, longer life spans, and rising levels of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders (ADRD) will result in a major caregiver crisis in the near future. Although family caregivers perform an incredibly valuable service, they do so at a considerable cost to themselves both emotionally and physically. Effective stress management programs for caregivers are vitally needed to 1) help them decrease their stress, 2) improve their emotional and physical health, and 3) empower them to gain control of their lives. The overall goal of this randomized controlled clinical trial is to determine the effectiveness of a stress-busting program (SBP) for caregivers of patients with ADRD. Specific research aims include: 1) to prospectively determine the effects of a SBP compared to a standard support group (SSG) on quality of life, immune response, and relaxation response using bioinstrumentation to measure muscle tension, electrodermal response, skin temperature, blood volume pulse, and blood pressure and 2) to assess the effectiveness of SBP or SSG for adult children caregivers as compared to spousal caregivers based on quality of life measurements, immune parameters, and relaxation response. Subjects will be tested at baseline, at completion of 4 and 8 weeks of SBP or SSG, and at 2- and 4-month follow-up sessions to determine the long-term effectiveness of the intervention. The proposed 8- week multimodal SBP will focus on stress management, relaxation therapy, and education related to stress and relaxation, managing challenging behavior, depression, coping strategies, positive thinking, and taking time for oneself. The setting will be an educational support group. A repeated measures design will be used to determine the effectiveness of SBP compared to SSG. Outcomes will be measured using psychosocial instruments as well as state-of-the science technology including bioinstrumentation and immune parameters to measure biological responses. The SBP is proposed as a way to decrease the level of stress experienced by caregivers and teach them effective coping strategies. If SBP is found to be more effective than SSG in decreasing stress, improving quality of life, promoting relaxation, and/or enhancing immunocompetence in family caregivers, these findings would have important clinical significance for providing a cost effective health promotion strategy for a group of people who experience tremendous ongoing stress.

描述（由申请人提供）：老年婴儿潮一代，更长的寿命以及阿尔茨海默氏病和相关疾病的上升水平（ADRD）将在不久的将来导致重大的照顾者危机。 尽管家庭护理人员提供了令人难以置信的有价值的服务，但他们在情感和身体上都以相当大的代价来做。 有效的护理人员的有效压力管理计划至关重要1）帮助他们减轻压力，2）改善情绪和身体健康，3）授权他们能够控制自己的生活。 这项随机对照临床试验的总体目标是确定对ADRD患者护理人员的压力计划（SBP）的有效性。 具体研究的目的包括：1）与标准支持小组（SSG）相比，使用生物启示来确定SBP对生活质量，免疫反应和放松反应的影响参数和放松响应。 受试者将在基线，SBP或SSG的4周和8周完成时进行测试，并在2个月和4个月的随访中进行测试，以确定干预的长期有效性。 拟议的为期8周的多模式SBP将专注于压力管理，放松疗法以及与压力和放松有关的教育，管理挑战性的行为，抑郁，应对策略，积极的思维以及为自己抽出时间。设置将是一个教育支持小组。 与SSG相比，将使用重复的措施设计来确定SBP的有效性。 结果将使用社会心理仪器以及最先进的科学技术来衡量，包括生物启示和免疫参数，以衡量生物学反应。 建议SBP是一种减少照料者所经历的压力水平并教导他们有效应对策略的一种方式。 如果发现SBP比SSG在减轻压力，改善生活质量，促进放松和/或增强家庭护理人员的免疫能力方面更有效，那么这些发现将具有重要的临床意义，以提供成本有效的健康促进策略，为一群经历巨大的压力。