Connecting Through Caregiving: Reappraising Intergeneration Relationships

Connecting Through Caregiving: Reappraising Intergeneration Relationships for Dementia Caregivers

The purpose of the present study is to examine the effects of perspective-taking reappraisals on the well-being of adult-child dementia caregivers.

Dementia caregiving presents a particular challenge wherein the adult child is parenting his or her parents. Facilitating relational insights, the key components of the Connecting Through Caregiving (CTC) intervention involves the following: 1) enhancing self-awareness of the caregiver, 2) developing interpersonal empathy of the care-recipient, 3) help-seeking, 4) balancing self-care and caring for others and 5) negotiating action plans. The CTC intervention is be evaluated against a basic skill training intervention consisting of scheduling pleasant events, communicating with the care recipient and other family members. Dementia caregivers providing at least 14 hours of care per week to a parent living with dementia are recruited and randomized into one the two conditions. The intervention lasts for six weeks for both conditions. Intervention in the first week consists of a home visit and a telephone follow-up. From the second to fifth week, there are weekly four telephone phone sessions. In the sixth week, there were two more telephone calls to consolidate the intervention and to review implementation plans.

Inclusion Criteria:

• The study participants will be primary caregivers aged 18 or older and who have been caring for persons (aged 60 or above) with a physician diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease in the mild to moderate range as determined by the Clinical Dementia Rating Scale.
• Primary caregivers are those who have been providing unpaid care for more than 14 hours a week for at least the past three months.
• The care should involve day-to-day decision-making as well as any of the following: feeding, dressing, bathing, toileting, housework, preparing meals, medication and handling finances.
• They can be daughter/son or daughter-/son-in-law of the care recipients.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Exclusion criteria are as follows: signs of severe intellectual deficits, demonstrated suicidal ideation, exhibited evidence of psychotic disorders, hearing/ visual impairment or inability to read or speak Chinese/Cantonese fluently and severe.