Practice of Acceptance, Awareness, and Compassion in Caregiving (PAACC)

Practice of Acceptance, Awareness, and Compassion in Caregiving (PAACC): A Randomized Controlled Trial on the Effectiveness of a Mindfulness Based Caregiver Multicomponent Intervention

The Primary objective of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of mindfulness based caregiver intervention, Practice of Acceptance, Awareness, and Compassion in Caregiving (PAACC) compared to an established cognitive behavior therapy based dementia caregiver intervention, Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer's Caregiver Health (REACH) in improving caregiver burden and quality of life of care recipient.

The study is a randomized controlled trial comparing a mindfulness-enhanced evidence-based caregiver skill-building intervention (PAACC) to REACH-VA to reduce caregiver burden and increase quality of life of the care recipient. For this, caregivers of persons with ADRD or TBI-AD who have moderate to severe burden will be randomly assigned to either receive PAACC or receive REACH-VA. Both the interventions will include 4 biweekly sessions delivered by trained interventionists, followed by an outcome testing session after the intervention. Outcomes of caregiver stress, health and well being will be assessed at baseline and at the end of the intervention.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Caregivers will include family members living with the individual diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease( AD) or Alzheimer's disease related dementia(ADRD) or Traumatic Brain Injury -AD(TBI-AD) with moderate to severe caregiver burden .
• Care recipients with diagnosis of Diagnosis of AD or ADRD or TBI-related AD .

Exclusion Criteria:

• Care givers: Determined to be an imminent risk to self or others,the Care recipient currently resides in a nursing home or assisted living facilities, unable to provide their own consent to participate in the study , and active substance use disorder in the last 1yr.
• Care recipient: Determined to be an imminent risk to self or others, Caregiver is not interested in the study, unable to obtain informed consent from the Care recipient