Impact of a Self-hyPnOsis Practice on Chronic StresS Among Caregivers of Elderly People With Loss of Autonomy at Home (POSSAID)

Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de la Réunion

Status: Not yet enrolling

Conditions: Stress

Treatments: Other: Control (Waiting list); Other: Self-hypnosis

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04909970

2021/CHU/02

Details and patient eligibility

About

In France, stress particularly affects family caregivers because of the intensive help they provide on a permanent basis to people losing their autonomy at home. This care work is often considered as a "burden" and has all the characteristics of a chronic daily stress factor. The prevalence of stress among caregivers is high and the level of stress varies according to the type of care provided to seniors at home.

This chronic stress has harmful effects on the health of family caregivers (depression, fatigue, insomnia, onset of chronic diseases, early mortality). It can be detrimental to their well-being and quality of life.

However, ageing well at home for older people is based on this essential pillar: the caregivers. They must remain in good physical and psychological health. Reducing their daily stress is becoming a public health challenge and a national priority.

Currently, the management of caregiver stress is based on several measures and devices. Non-conventional care practices such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, meditation, relaxation and yoga are offered to family caregivers. Initial results of studies on the effect of these complementary medicines show an improvement in psychological stress. However, research in this field is relatively recent. The conclusions must therefore be approached with caution. Moreover, no medium or long-term evaluation has been found in the scientific literature.

Self-hypnosis is becoming a common practice in healthcare. It has demonstrated its effectiveness in reducing pain and anxiety in both adults and children. In addition, other recent scientific evidence supports the effectiveness of hypnosis in stress management. In France, no study on caregiver stress and its management by self-hypnosis has been identified in the literature. The hypothesis is that the stress level of caregivers of elderly people at home could be reduced through daily self-hypnosis practice at home.

Enrollment: 60 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Stress > or = 3 evaluated by the analogic visual scale of CHAMOUX
• Caregiver at home for a person uper than 60 years old with a loss of autonomy and followed in geriatrics or in polyvalent medicine
• Daily help in at least one of the 3 spheres of the elderly activity
• Person providing care services for more than 2 years with the elderly
• Person who can read and write
• Person affiliated to a social security scheme
• Person who gives his oral express consent
• Person who lives in Reunion Island

Exclusion criteria

• Person with serious chronic disorder (cancer for example)
• Person with a contraindication to hypnosis (cognitive and psychiatric disorders or alcohol dependence)
• Person under specific treatment preventing them from performing the intervention consistently
• Person who has already practiced hypnosis

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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60 participants in 2 patient groups

Self hypnosis

Experimental group

Description:

Self-hypnosis program associated to usual practice of stress management

Treatment:

Other: Self-hypnosis

control group (waiting list)

Other group

Description:

Usual practice of stress management. This group will practice self-hypnosis after the intervention group has practiced self-hypnosis (waiting list).

Treatment:

Other: Control (Waiting list)