Effects of the Buddy-Up Dyadic Physical Activity Program on Health Outcomes of Care Dyads of Dementia: A Pilot Study (BUDPA)

The University of Hong Kong (HKU)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Moderate Dementia; Mild Dementia

Treatments: Behavioral: BUDPA Program; Other: Control arm (Usual care)

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04913818

BUDPA

Details and patient eligibility

About

This project seeks to develop a novel dyadic intervention (titled as Buddy-Up Dyadic Physical Activity; BUDPA), using exercise as the common treatment component to improve the cognitive outcomes of persons with dementia and manage the stress-related symptoms of their family caregivers.

Full description

This project is a pilot study that seeks to develop a novel dyadic BUDPA intervention, using exercise as the common treatment component to improve the cognitive outcomes of persons with dementia and manage the stress-related symptoms of their family caregivers. BUDPA has integrated the concept of developing social capital for dementia management. By applying partner exercise, the longer-term provider for this therapeutic care will be shifted from service providers to the family caregivers and the persons with dementia. Helping them to translate the practice to a home-care setting further strengthens the notions of family responsibility and ability in dementia management. BUDPA fully engages the care dyads in a mutual helping relationship during the exercise training. The partner exercise also creates a platform to enable more meaningful encounter within the care dyad. The family caregivers are facilitated to find meaning in the caregiving process, which eventually can benefit their role commitment and mental wellness. Also, the use of mixed-method study design can provide high quality findings to inform both the feasibility and preliminary effects of the BUDPA program.

Enrollment: 40 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

For PwD,

• confirmed diagnosed of mild to moderate-intensity dementia
• cognitive impairment as indicated by a HK-Montreal Cognitive Assessment (Hong Kong version; HK-MoCA) score of 8-19 to indicate mild to early moderate dementia will be recruited

For family caregivers

• live together with the PwD
• identify as the primary family caregivers of the PwD

Exclusion criteria

• engaging in > 60 minutes per week of moderate or more vigorous exercise in the previous six months
• acute muscular-skeletal problem, stroke or cardio-respiratory disease.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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40 participants in 2 patient groups

BUDPA Program

Experimental group

Description:

The overall program includes 12 weekly 1-hour training class. Each session starts with a 10-minute warm-up period using stretching exercise and stationary mobilizing exercise for trunk and limb joints at both upper and lower bodies and followed by a session of four to six selected partnering exercise, with duration increase gradually from 20 minutes to 40 minutes in four weeks' time. The Borg Rate of Perceived Exertion (Borg RPE) will be used to monitor the exercise intensity. The research assistant will explain the Borg RPE scale to the subjects and instruct them to speed up or slow down their movements in order to achieve a feeling of 'somewhat hard' at the Borg RPE rating of 12-14. The training session will end with a 10-minute cool down exercise session.

Treatment:

Behavioral: BUDPA Program

Usual Care

Active Comparator group

Description:

Activities will be provided by the elderly community center such as dementia or caregiver supporting service. They will be allowed to use the regular service provided such services are not related to physical activity or exercise training.

Treatment:

Other: Control arm (Usual care)