Caring for Dementia Caregivers in Ethnic Immigrant Communities

Many caregivers of people with Alzheimer's disease or other dementias-especially those in immigrant communities who don't speak English well-don't get access to helpful, proven support programs. This is especially true for Korean American caregivers.

To address this, the investigative team adapted an existing caregiver support program (called the Savvy Caregiver Program) to better fit Korean culture and language. This new version, called K-Savvy, is a 6-week online program taught in Korean. In an earlier small study, K-Savvy worked well: caregivers found it helpful, were willing to use it, and showed fewer symptoms of depression.

Now, the investigative team wants to study it more carefully to see how well it really works and why.

The study has two main goals:

Goal 1:

The investigative team will measure whether K-Savvy improves caregivers' well-being-specifically whether it reduces stress and depression and helps them feel more positive about caregiving. The investigative team will also look at why it works, focusing on whether it changes how caregivers think about their situation (for example, feeling less overwhelmed and more confident).

Goal 2:

The investigative team will talk directly with caregivers and program instructors to understand their experiences with K-Savvy. This will help the investigative team learn what worked well, what didn't, and why.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Stress (Psychology); No Disease or Condition is Being Studied
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: K-Savvy; Behavioral: Healthy Living

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 120
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Yuri Jang, PhD; Phone Number: 213-821-6441; Email: yurij@usc.edu
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Min-Kyoung Rhee, PhD; Phone Number: 213-740-1725; Email: minkyour@usc.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • Los Angeles, California, United States, 90089
      • University of Southern California
      • Contact: Yuri Jang, PhD; Phone Number: 213-821-6441; Email: yurij@usc.edu
      • Contact: Min-Kyoung Rhee, PhD; Phone Number: 213-740-1725; Email: minkyour@usc.edu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Self-identified Korean American adults aged 18 or older Provide care for a family member with dementia as a primary caregiver Primary caregiver defined as providing a minimum of 10 hours per week of in-home caregiving to a family member Speak English less than "very well" Able to attend virtual classes using an electronic device with Internet access

Exclusion Criteria:

Individuals with severe depression (Patient Health Questionnaire [PHQ-9] score ≥ 20), as K-Savvy is not a mental health treatment program

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Sequential Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: K-Savvy; immediate enrollment in K-Savvy, 6-week online psychoeducation program	Behavioral: K-Savvy; Funded by the NIA (R21AG071790, PI: Jang), our team successfully completed linguistic and cultural adaptations of the Savvy Caregiver Program (SCP) for Korean American dementia caregivers with limited English Proficiency. The Korean version of the SCP (K-Savvy) has shown high feasibility, acceptability, and initial efficacy.
Active Comparator: Healthy Living; enrollment in a 6-week online health education program and subsequent enrollment in K-Savvy	Behavioral: K-Savvy; Funded by the NIA (R21AG071790, PI: Jang), our team successfully completed linguistic and cultural adaptations of the Savvy Caregiver Program (SCP) for Korean American dementia caregivers with limited English Proficiency. The Korean version of the SCP (K-Savvy) has shown high feasibility, acceptability, and initial efficacy.; Behavioral: Healthy Living; 6-week online health education for Korean Americans with limited English proficiency
Other: waitlist control; K-Savvy enrollment after a waiting period	Behavioral: K-Savvy; Funded by the NIA (R21AG071790, PI: Jang), our team successfully completed linguistic and cultural adaptations of the Savvy Caregiver Program (SCP) for Korean American dementia caregivers with limited English Proficiency. The Korean version of the SCP (K-Savvy) has shown high feasibility, acceptability, and initial efficacy.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
depressive symptoms	symptoms of depression assessed with Patient Health Questionnaire-9, range from 0 to 27 (higher scores indicating greater depressive symptoms)	from enrollment to 6-month follow-up

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
caregiver burden	the level of stress and burden measures with the Zarit's Caregiver Burden Scale, range from 0 to 48 (higher scores indicating greater sense of burden)	from enrollment to 6-month follow-up

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Southern California

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): May 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 30, 2030
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 30, 2030

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 17, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 17, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): April 24, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 30, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 28, 2026
• Last Verified: April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: K-Savvy
• Other Study ID Numbers: R01AG090561 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: Study results will be disseminated to the scientific community. De-identified individual participant data (IPD) collected in this study will be made available to qualified researchers upon reasonable request. The shared dataset will include variables necessary to replicate study findings, along with relevant documentation (e.g., data dictionaries and study protocols). Data sharing will be conducted in compliance with human subjects protection regulations and the University of Southern California Institutional Review Board, and in accordance with National Institutes of Health data sharing policies. Access may require a data use agreement to ensure appropriate use and protection of participant confidentiality.
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No