Relaxation Therapy for Alzheimer's Caregivers

描述（由申请人提供）：婴儿潮一代的老龄化、寿命延长以及阿尔茨海默病和相关疾病（ADRD）水平的上升将在不久的将来导致一场重大的护理危机。 虽然家庭照顾者提供了非常有价值的服务，但他们在情感和身体上都付出了相当大的代价。 为照顾者提供有效的压力管理计划是至关重要的，以1）帮助他们减轻压力，2）改善他们的情绪和身体健康，3）使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ADRD患者的护理人员的减压计划（SBP）的有效性。 具体的研究目标包括：1）使用生物仪器测量肌肉张力、皮肤电反应、皮肤温度、血容量脉搏和血压，前瞻性确定SBP与标准支持组（SSG）相比对生活质量、免疫反应和放松反应的影响; 2）基于生活质量测量，评估SBP或SSG与配偶照顾者相比对成年儿童照顾者的有效性，免疫参数和松弛反应 将在基线、4周和8周SBP或SSG完成时以及2个月和4个月随访时对受试者进行测试，以确定干预的长期有效性。 拟议的8周多模式SBP将侧重于压力管理、放松疗法和与压力和放松相关的教育，管理挑战性行为、抑郁、应对策略、积极思考和为自己花时间。该设置将是一个教育支持小组。 将使用重复测量设计来确定SBP与SSG相比的有效性。 将使用心理社会工具以及包括生物仪器和免疫参数在内的最新科学技术来测量结果，以测量生物反应。 SBP被认为是一种降低照顾者所经历的压力水平并教会他们有效应对策略的方法。 如果SBP被发现在减轻压力，改善生活质量，促进放松，和/或增强家庭照顾者的免疫能力方面比SSG更有效，这些发现将具有重要的临床意义，为一组经历巨大持续压力的人提供一种具有成本效益的健康促进策略。

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.