Learning Skills Together Pilot Study
Purpose
The Learning Skills Together (LST) program is a synchronous web-based educational intervention developed to address the essential need for training to equip family caregivers to someone with mid-stage Alzheimer's disease to confidently provide complex care tasks.The purpose of this pilot study is to evaluate the feasibility of delivering LST, the program's acceptability to caregivers, and likelihood of effecting caregivers self-efficacy and mastery.
Conditions
- Family Caregiving
- Complex Care
- Self Efficacy
- Intervention
Eligibility
- Eligible Ages
- Over 18 Years
- Eligible Genders
- All
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria
- Family member (including families of choice) to an individual living with Alzheimer's disease who has received a diagnosis from a physician - Ages 18 and old - Provides assistance with at least two instrumental activities of daily living or one activity of daily living - Care recipient is described as being within mid-stage Alzheimer's Disease - There are no plans to place the care recipient in a skilled nursing facility within the next 3 months
Exclusion Criteria
- The caregiver is paid to provide care - The caregiver does not have reliable access to a computer and internet - The caregiver is unable to read and speak English
Study Design
- Phase
- N/A
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Allocation
- N/A
- Intervention Model
- Single Group Assignment
- Intervention Model Description
- A pre- and post-test design to test the Learning Skills Together program will be employed.
- Primary Purpose
- Other
- Masking
- None (Open Label)
Arm Groups
Arm | Description | Assigned Intervention |
---|---|---|
Experimental Learning Skills Together Intervention |
Participants in the Learning Skills Together program will begin their participation with a one-on-one phone call with an interventionist, who will ensure the participant is prepared to to attend the group sessions (e.g., familiar with videoconference technology) and will help the participant to set individual goals. The caregiver participant will then attend 4, group-based sessions lasting approximately 1.5 hours each, to learn about common complex care tasks managed by family caregivers to someone with mid-stage Alzheimer's disease, such as managing behavioral symptoms of dementia, incontinence, nutrition, transferring, medication management, and more. Sessions will integrate interactive activities, such as videos, case studies, and discussions. Approximately four weeks later, caregivers will be asked to attend a group reflection session to discuss application of what was learned and progress in meeting individual goals. |
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More Details
- Status
- Completed
- Sponsor
- The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio