Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Family Caregivers of People With Dementia

Internet-based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Family Caregivers of People With Dementia

The pilot project aims to investigate the feasibility and the preliminary efficacy of a guided online acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) intervention for distressed family caregivers of people with dementia. A one-group pretest-posttest design (n=15) will be used to investigate the potential effects of the 10 weekly online ACT intervention session on caregivers' outcomes at posttest (10 weeks).

This project will employ one-group pretest-posttest design to investigate the potential impact of a guided online ACT intervention on improving quality of life and psychological health in distressed family caregivers of people with dementia. After the baseline evaluation, eligible caregivers will receive 10 weekly ACT sessions, individually delivered by a licensed professional counselor online. Each session lasts for one hour. Primary outcome measures will be psychological distress measured by the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS)- 21 and care-related quality of life measured by the Care-related Quality of Life instrument (CarerQol). A one-time interview at the completion of the 10 weekly sessions will be conducted to explore caregivers' experiences in the intervention.

Inclusion Criteria:

1. community-dwelling adults (age 18 or over) who are currently taking primary responsibility for the care of a relative with dementia living in the community
2. devoting at least 1 hour daily to the care of the relative with dementia
3. having cared for a relative with dementia for at least 3 months
4. suffering at least mild symptoms of psychological distress measured by the DASS-21 (scores ≥ 5 on Depression Subscale of DASS-21, scores ≥ 4 on Anxiety Subscale, or scores ≥ 8 on Stress Subscale)
5. having a computer/smartphone with internet access capable of doing web browsing and video-conferencing
6. being able to provide informed consent by understanding the nature of study participation.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. having cognitive, physical, or sensory deficits, or language barriers (non-English communicator) that impede study participation
2. receiving a psychological therapy currently
3. having psychiatric hospitalizations or diagnoses of mental illness in the previous 2 years
4. taking antipsychotic or anticonvulsant medication at the time of recruitment
5. considering or planning to place family members of dementia in a nursing home within 6 months
6. having the possibility of study dropouts due to other medical conditions of family members with dementia (e.g., conditions that may impede study participation due to frequent hospitalization or death).