Family Telemental Health Intervention for Veterans With Dementia (TMH Pilot)

VA Office of Research and Development

Status: Terminated

Conditions: Dementia Family Caregiver Burden and Conflict

Treatments: Behavioral: Telemental Health Family Intervention

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other U.S. Federal agency

Identifiers

NCT03116464

I21HX002256 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

PPO 16-131

Details and patient eligibility

About

Dementia impacts Veterans, their families, and other Veterans who serve as caregivers. One of the most stressful aspects of caregiving is the management of behavioral problems (e.g. wandering, agitation, and sleep difficulties), which exacerbate health issues for both caregivers and persons with dementia (PWD). Existing VA caregiver treatments for caregiver stress and behavioral problems are often ineffective. Many caregivers do not realize their interactions with PWD contribute to behavioral problems and thus do not ask for help to improve their interpersonal skills. The aim of this project is to develop an assessment of interpersonal skills deficits and a related treatment strategy to assist family caregivers of PWD who are challenged by a lack of interpersonal skills and are not helped by existing family caregiver treatments. This project, will develop and test (1) a video assessment of caregiver/PWD interaction that clinicians will use to identify interpersonal difficulties and (2) a family therapy for the interpersonal difficulties clinicians identify in the assessment.

Full description

Study temporarily suspended due to COVID risk associated with at risk population of Veterans with Dementia and often older caregivers.

Enrollment: 4 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Either the caregiver or the care-recipient must be a Veteran.

The caregiver must:

• Be the primary unpaid family or friend who helps or supports an individual with dementia
• Be involved in the care of the person with dementia (at least 4 hours of care per day)
• Report that the care-recipient exhibits behavioral problems that are distressing
• Not be currently receiving the REACH VA protocol

Additionally, the care-recipient must:

• Must have a documented diagnosis of dementia
• Have cognitive impairment (MMSE<23 or SLUMS<20 or diagnosis of dementia based on chart review)
• Be out of bed and able to respond to a caregiver's instructions or interventions

Exclusion criteria

• Caregiver severe cognitive impairment
• Caregiver inability to meet study demands
• Caregiver psychosis

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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4 participants in 1 patient group

Intervention Group

Experimental group

Description:

Caregiver and patient with dementia dyads who receive the family intervention.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Telemental Health Family Intervention