1. iSupport, an online training and support program for caregivers of people with dementia: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial in India
- Author
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Mehta, Kala M, Gallagher-Thompson, Dolores, Varghese, Mathew, Loganathan, Santosh, Baruah, Upasana, Seeher, Katrin, Zandi, Diana, Dua, Tarun, and Pot, Anne Margriet
- Subjects
Health Services and Systems ,Nursing ,Health Sciences ,Dementia ,Mental Health ,Depression ,Acquired Cognitive Impairment ,Prevention ,Clinical Trials and Supportive Activities ,Clinical Research ,Brain Disorders ,Comparative Effectiveness Research ,Behavioral and Social Science ,6.6 Psychological and behavioural ,Management of diseases and conditions ,Evaluation of treatments and therapeutic interventions ,7.1 Individual care needs ,Mental health ,Good Health and Well Being ,Caregivers ,Cognitive Behavioral Therapy ,Humans ,Internet ,Outcome Assessment ,Health Care ,Problem Solving ,Quality of Life ,Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ,Self-Help Groups ,Cardiorespiratory Medicine and Haematology ,Clinical Sciences ,Cardiovascular System & Hematology ,General & Internal Medicine ,Clinical sciences ,Epidemiology ,Health services and systems - Abstract
BackgroundDementia has a huge physical, psychological, social and economic impact upon caregivers, families and societies at large. There has been a growing impetus to utilize Internet interventions given the potential scalability, and presumed cost-effectiveness and accessibility. In this paper, we describe the design of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) aiming to study the impact of online self-help programs on caregivers of people with dementia in India. The experimental group will receive an interactive training and support program and the comparison group will receive an education-only e-book. It will be among the first online support intervention RCTs for a mental health condition in a lower-middle income country.Methods and designTwo hundred and eight participants are expected to be recruited via several strategies (email, Internet and social media, telephone and face-to-face) starting in the Bangalore region of India. The inclusion criteria for participation in the trial are: (1) being 18 years or older, (2) being a self-reported caregiver of a person with dementia, (3) self-report that a family member has a diagnosis of dementia (AD8 ≥ 2), and experience caregiver distress (≥ 4 on a 1-item burden scale ranging from 1 to 10 or ≥ 4 or
- Published
- 2018