Telephone Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Intervention for Caregivers of Adults With Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Summary
Caregivers of adults with dementia report higher distress, including anxiety and depressive symptoms, burden, and existential suffering, than caregivers of people with other chronic diseases. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a behavioral intervention designed to increase psychological flexibility in the face of challenges. Results from our recent proof-of-concept study suggest that ACT is effective in reducing anxiety and associated psychological distress in dementia caregivers. In this study, we will randomize N=50 dementia caregivers in equal numbers to receive either 6 weekly 1-hour telephone-based ACT sessions (TACTICs; experimental) or minimally-enhanced usual care (mEUC; control). We hypothesize that our TACTICs intervention will be feasible and acceptable in this population and will have a greater impact on reducing anxiety and secondary outcomes from baseline to post-intervention, and 3 and 6 months later.

Overview
Not available.

Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:

21 years or older
Able to communicate in English
Able to provide informed consent
Listed as primary caregiver in the chart of a patient with Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia (ADRD)
Self-identifies as ADRD patient's primary caregiver
Intends to continue caregiving for ADRD patient for ≥12 months
Clinically-elevated anxiety (score of 10 or higher on GAD-7)

Exclusion Criteria:

Non-family member of the ADRD patient
Has ADRD or other serious mental illness diagnosis such as bipolar or schizophrenia as determined by ICD-10 code