REDUCING CAREGIVER BURDEN: GROUP PSYCHOEDUCATION FOR CAREGIVERS OF PATIENTS WITH DEMENTIA

Abstract

<h3>Introduction</h3> Dementia is a growing problem, with the WHO projecting 83 million people with dementia internationally by 2030(1). More than 60 percent of people with dementia in the US are cared for by an informal, unpaid caregiver(2). Rates of depression and anxiety among caregivers of people with AD are higher than the rates of anxiety and depression in caregivers of people with other disabilities(3). There are limited studies comparing modalities od interventions for caregivers of people with dementia, ie virtual v in person. This study addressed whether an interactive caregiver psychoeducation course relives caregiver burden equally when delivered virtually compared to in person. <h3>Methods</h3> This study provided interactive psychoeducation sessions (1 hr /wk for 8 weeks) followed by two one hour strategy workshops. Research participants were assigned to virtual, in person or a control group. Participants were given questionaries pre, midway (wk5), and post psychoeducation (wk 9) and post strategy workshops (wk13). The measures utilized in these questionaries are the Center of Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale(CES-D), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Adults (STAI), The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), and the post participation satisfaction questionnaire. <h3>Results</h3> Preliminary results show CES-D Participants trend toward improvement, week 5 to week 9 change modest (Lower score on CED-D Improvement) STAI Increase in positive score (Increase on "positive" STAI Improvement) and Decreased in negative score between baseline and week 5, but not week 9 (Decrease on "negative" STAI and PANAS Improvement) PANAS Increase in positive score (Increase on "positive" STAI Improvement) and Decreased in negative score between baseline and week 5, but a rebound in week 9 (Decrease on "negative" PANAS Improvement) PSS-10 Decrease across timepoints (Decrease on PSS-10 Improvement) <h3>Conclusions</h3> Based on preliminary analysis, trends for the virtual psychoeducation group do suggest improvement, but variability between scores within the small size of the sample thus far means that no results are statistically significant. Given the power analysis, this is expected. Conclusions are limited due to the ongoing nature of this study and small sample size. <h3>This research was funded by</h3> EVMS CRG grant funded Chart: https://apps.aagponline.org/abstracts/uploads/2022/83z17g1ropx5q1m.pdf