Measuring the Effectiveness of Self-Care Sampler for Family Care Partners in Reducing Caregiver Stress

November 21, 2022 updated by: Ellen Flaherty, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
To determine the effectiveness of the Self-care Sampler for Family Care Partners program in reducing caregiver stress over the 6-week program period. Hypothesis: Participants who attend the 6 class sessions over 6 weeks of the program will have a lower score on the Modified Caregiver Strain Index (MCSI) when compared to baseline. This will indicate a decrease in overall stress.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Detailed Description

The 6-week Self-Care Sampler for Family Caregivers program was created to provide a variety of evidence-based self-care practices that improve the mental and physical health of caregivers by relieving stress and encouraging preventive health behaviors (Acton, 2002). To determine the effectiveness of the Self-care Sampler for Family Care Partners program in reducing caregiver stress over the 6-week program period. Hypothesis: Participants who attend the 6 class sessions over 6 weeks of the program will have a lower score on the Modified Caregiver Strain Index (MCSI) when compared to baseline. This will indicate a decrease in overall stress. For each 6-week program, sessions will take place once a week for 90 minutes, each starting with a centering exercise and focusing on a new form of self-care. The program gives caregivers a space to connect with others and form social bonds that could extend outside of our sessions. We will run the 6-week Self-Care Sampler for Family Caregivers program three times (three intervention periods) in 2022.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

19

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 Locations

    • New Hampshire
      • Lebanon, New Hampshire, United States, 03766
        • Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Dartmouth Centers for Health and Aging

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 and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Any relative, partner, friend or neighbor who has a significant personal relationship with, and provides a broad range of assistance for, an older person or an adult with a chronic or disabling condition.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Those who cannot speak English which would prevent full participation
  • Those with hearing, vision, or cognitive impairment that prevents participation over video
  • Individuals who are not adults
  • Prisoners

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: Other
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Other: Self-Care Sampler for Family Care Partners
The 6-week Self-Care Sampler for Family Caregivers program was created to provide a variety of evidence-based self-care practices that improve the mental and physical health of caregivers by relieving stress. Sessions will take place once a week for 90 minutes, each starting with a centering exercise and focusing on a new form of self-care. The first 30 minutes will be used for a support group and the last 60 minutes will be for a self-care practice. Self-care practices that will be offered throughout the 6 weeks include mindfulness, mindful drawing, exercise, and health prevention and promotion.
The 6-week Self-Care Sampler for Family Caregivers program was created to provide a variety of evidence-based self-care practices that improve the mental and physical health of caregivers by relieving stress. Sessions will take place once a week for 90 minutes, each starting with a centering exercise and focusing on a new form of self-care. The first 30 minutes will be used for a support group and the last 60 minutes will be for a self-care practice. Self-care practices that will be offered throughout the 6 weeks include mindfulness, mindful drawing, exercise, and health prevention and promotion.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Stress, as measured by Modified Caregiver Strain Index change
Time Frame: Baseline, week 1 change Post-Intervention, week 6

This index includes questions that measure the perception of persistent problems and feelings of decreased well-being that results from providing prolonged care. Respondents will provide one of the following responses to each of 13 questions:

  • Yes, on a regular basis (2 points)
  • Yes, sometimes (1 point)
  • No (0 points) These questions will be presented to the participants in a survey prior to the program and after the program. Scoring ranges from 26 to 0 with a higher score indicates a higher level of caregiver strain.
Baseline, week 1 change Post-Intervention, week 6

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Collaborators

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Ellen Flaherty, Ph. D, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

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 (Actual)

April 11, 2022

Primary Completion (Actual)

October 27, 2022

Study Completion (Actual)

November 2, 2022

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 20, 2022

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 20, 2022

First Posted (Actual)

May 25, 2022

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

November 22, 2022

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 21, 2022

Last Verified

November 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • STUDY02001401

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

No

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

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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