Relaxation Therapy for Alzheimer's Caregivers

描述(由申请人提供)：婴儿潮一代的老龄化、寿命的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重大的照顾者危机。尽管家庭照顾者提供了非常有价值的服务，但他们这样做是以自己在情感和身体上的相当大的代价为代价的。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，以及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缓解压力计划(SBP)对ADRD患者照顾者的有效性。具体的研究目标包括：1)前瞻性地确定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，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，以及2)基于生活质量测量、免疫参数和放松反应，评估SBP或SSG对成年儿童照顾者与配偶照顾者的有效性。受试者将在基线、SBP或SSG完成4周和8周，以及2个月和4个月的后续会议上进行测试，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、放松治疗和与压力和放松相关的教育，管理挑战行为、抑郁、应对策略、积极思考和为自己腾出时间。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衡量结果，以衡量生物反应。SBP被提出作为一种方式来减少照顾者经历的压力水平，并教他们有效的应对策略。如果SBP被发现在减轻压力、提高生活质量、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，这些发现将对为经历巨大持续压力的人群提供具有成本效益的健康促进策略具有重要的临床意义。

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.