Translating a Dementia Caregiver Intervention into a Mobile Application

NIH RePORTER · NIH · R21 · $188,595 · view on reporter.nih.gov ↗

Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract Caring for a person with dementia is a highly stressful activity and is associated with negative physical and mental health consequences, including increased risk of depression and worse reported health-related quality of life. Many psychosocial interventions for dementia caregivers have been developed and shown to be efficacious for reducing burden and depression, but few have been translated for community use, mainly due to poor accessibility. The goal of this development project (NIH stage IA & IB) is to create a mobile health (mHealth) application (App) for distressed family caregivers that combines the strengths of evidence-based telephone- delivered caregiver and mind-body interventions. The project has two aims. In Aim 1, the caregiver research team will collaborate with computer engineers to translate the interventions into a mHealth App and conduct month-long open trial (beta testing) with 10 dementia caregivers. We will carry out qualitative interviews with participants regarding technical and content aspects of the App that will inform intervention modifications. In Aim 2, we will complete a 3-month feasibility clinical trial, in which 40 dementia caregivers will be randomized to a treatment condition that will receive computer tablets containing the newly developed App or a control group that receives dementia caregiver-related internet links. Outcome measures include caregiver depression, burden, reactions to behavior problems, desire to institutionalize, and healthcare resource utilization. The primary goal of the study is to address feasibility and accessibility of the intervention and control condition as well as collect data on recruitment and retention, adherence, and satisfaction. At the completion of this project, we will have developed a tailored, multicomponent, mHealth App to address caregiver burden, depression, and healthcare utilization in a full-scale efficacy trial.

Key facts

NIH application ID
9998830
Project number
5R21AG064410-02
Recipient
RHODE ISLAND HOSPITAL
Principal Investigator
GEOFFREY N TREMONT
Activity code
R21
Funding institute
NIH
Fiscal year
2020
Award amount
$188,595
Award type
5
Project period
2019-09-01 → 2022-05-31