The COACH Project: Combined Online Assistance for Caregiver Health (COACH)

January 16, 2018 updated by: J. Kaci Fairchild, PhD, Palo Alto Veterans Institute for Research

Combined Online Assistance for Caregiver Health (COACH): The Efficacy of a Combined Physical Activity and Coping Skills Training Intervention for Caregivers

This study evaluates the effect of a physical exercise + caregiver skills training on feelings of burden, mood, and biological markers of inflammation in persons who provide care for Veterans with a TBI or dementia. Half of the caregivers will participate in a balance and flexibility + caregiver skills training program, while the other half will participate in a moderate/high intensity aerobic and resistance + caregiver skills training program.

Study Overview

Status

Unknown

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

200

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

  • Name: Jennifer Fairchild, PhD
  • Phone Number: 63432 650-493-5000

Study Contact Backup

  • Name: Marisol Hernandez
  • Phone Number: 65992 650-493-5000

Study Locations

    • California
      • Palo Alto, California, United States, 94304
        • Recruiting
        • VA Palo Alto Health Care System
        • Contact:
          • Amerah Hashmi
          • Phone Number: 65992 650-493-5000
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Jennifer K Fairchild, PhD

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 85 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. individuals aged 18 - 85
  2. distress associated with being the primary caregiver of a person with TBI or dementia
  3. endorsement of at least two of the following items: felt overwhelmed, felt like needed to cry, angry or frustrated, distant or cut of from family or friends, moderate to high levels of stress, felt their health had declined
  4. provide at least one hour of care (supervision or direct assistance) per week over the past three months
  5. approval by Primary Care Provider to participate in physical exercise
  6. be proficient in spoken and written English

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. current or lifetime history of any psychiatric disorder with psychotic features
  2. prominent suicidal or homicidal ideation
  3. current alcohol or substance abuse
  4. diagnosis of probable or possible dementia
  5. a Short Portable Mental Status score of ≥ 8
  6. participation in another caregiver intervention within the past year
  7. lack of regular access to the internet
  8. planned transfer of care recipient to another caregiver or nursing home within 12 months; 8) current severe cardiac disease (e.g., uncontrolled atrial fibrillation, defined as mean 24 hour heart rate >85 beats/min, or 24 hour maximal ventricular rate >150 beats/min; uncontrolled ventricular arrhythmias, defined as recurrent ventricular tachycardia >3 beats in succession, or 24 hour PVC count >20%; active pericarditis or myocarditis; Class III/IV heart failure and / or ejection fraction < 20%; thrombophlebitis; pulmonary disease with a drop in O2 Sat with exercise to 90% without oxygen; embolism within past 6 months)
  9. inability to participate in an exercise stress test
  10. morbid obesity (BMI > 39)
  11. inability to read, verbalize understanding and voluntarily sign the Informed Consent.

Caregivers meeting any of these exclusion criteria will be excluded from all aspects of this project.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Combined Aerobic and Resistance Exercise
Participants will work with study staff to develop an individualized physical training program based on their level of functioning at study entry. Exercises will focus on increasing the heart rate to a point at which participants will breathe more heavily and may sweat.
The combined moderate to high intensity combined aerobic and resistance exercise training + skills training group consists of six months of physical exercise + caregiver skills training followed by an additional six months of follow-up for a total study duration of twelve months. All aspects of these combined interventions will be delivered through mobile technology thus obviating some of the obstacles to caregivers face in meeting their own needs. Caregivers will be provided with study issued equipment (e.g., exercise equipment, activity monitoring devices, and tablets) to complete all elements of the intervention.
Active Comparator: Balance and Flexibility
Participants will work with study staff to develop an individualized physical training program based on their level of functioning at study entry.
The stretching, balance and flexibility training + skills training group consists of six months of physical exercise + caregiver skills training followed by an additional six months of follow-up for a total study duration of twelve months. All aspects of these combined interventions will be delivered through mobile technology thus obviating some of the obstacles to caregivers face in meeting their own needs. Caregivers will be provided with study issued equipment (e.g., exercise equipment, activity monitoring devices, and tablets) to complete all elements of the intervention.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Caregiver Burden using Zarit Burden Inventory
Time Frame: Six Months
Zarit Burden Inventory
Six Months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Collaborators

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

August 1, 2015

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

July 1, 2018

Study Completion (Anticipated)

July 1, 2018

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 3, 2017

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 20, 2017

First Posted (Actual)

April 21, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 18, 2018

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 16, 2018

Last Verified

January 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • FAI0003AGG
  • W81XWH-15-1-0246 (Other Grant/Funding Number: Department of Defense)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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