Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Stress Reduction in Family Carers of People Living with Dementia: A Systematic Review.

Emme Chacko,Yoram Barak,Benjamin Ling,Fred Sundram,Nadav Avny,Sarah Cullum,Gary Cheung

doi:10.3390/ijerph19010614

Abstract

The prevalence of dementia is increasing and the care needs of people living with dementia are rising. Family carers of people living with dementia are a high-risk group for psychological and physical health comorbidities. Mindfulness-based interventions such as mindfulness-based cognitive therapy show potential for reducing stress experienced by family carers of people living with dementia. This study aims to systematically assess the efficacy of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in reducing stress experienced by family carers of people living with dementia. Electronic databases including MEDLINE, APA PsycINFO, EMBASE, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, AMED, ICTRP, and ALOIS were searched for relevant studies up to August 2020. All types of intervention studies were included. Quantitative findings were explored. Seven studies were eligible for inclusion. The analysis showed that there was a statistically significant reduction in self-rated carer stress in four studies for the mindfulness-based cognitive therapy group compared to controls. One study that was adequately powered also showed reductions in carer burden, depression, and anxiety compared to control. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy appears to be a potentially effective intervention for family carers of people living with dementia, but large, high-quality randomized controlled trials in ethnically diverse populations are required to evaluate its effectiveness.

Highlights

As the world’s population grows and ages, the prevalence of dementia is rising rapidly [1]
Carers provide the majority of the care involved for people living with dementia (PLWD) [2] in a largely unpaid manner; saving society considerable costs of this care
A total of 11 results were excluded for the following reasons: five wrong interventions, one wrong patient population, three duplicates, one was not an intervention study, and one study could not be retrieved despite extensive searches using inter-library services and contacting the author, journal, and publisher

Summary

Introduction

As the world’s population grows and ages, the prevalence of dementia is rising rapidly [1]. Dementia is associated with a decline in cognitive function and the inability to perform activities of daily living, which results in substantial ongoing care needs for people with dementia as the disease progresses. Carers provide the majority of the care involved for people living with dementia (PLWD) [2] in a largely unpaid manner; saving society considerable costs of this care. It is well known that being a dementia carer is a risk factor for psychological stress [3] and poor physical health [4]. 40% of these carers experience clinical depression or anxiety [5]. Of particular concern are findings from a UK survey of 566 dementia carers which showed that 16% were suicidal [6]

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Results

Discussion

Conclusion