Both telephone-based and f-to-f CBT showed improvements in depression, subjective burden, and assistance support in dementia AA CGs. Replication with a larger sample size (N = 106) is currently in progress. Study limitations and future directions for research are also addressed.

This article presents themes emerging from semistructured interviews with dementia family caregivers in rural communities who participated in an integrative, cognitive-behavioral and spiritual counseling intervention, and with faith community nurses (FCNs) who delivered the intervention. The primary objectives of the counseling intervention were to ameliorate dementia caregivers' depressive affect and the severity of their self-identified caregiving and self-care problems. The qualitative portion of the study was intended to elicit caregivers' and FCNs' perceptions of the benefits and drawbacks of the intervention. We conducted interviews with seven FCN/caregiver pairs 4 times during the 6-month counseling process, totaling 56 interviews. Themes emerging from the interviews included caregivers' perception of burden and care partners' problem behavior; formation of therapeutic alliance between FCNs and caregivers; problem-solving skills, tools, and resources; caregivers' use of problem-solving strategies; spirituality in caregiving and counseling processes; FCNs' prior professional experience; and caregiver and FCN time constraints.

Preliminary outcomes of FCN training and CBSC for dementia CGs were promising. However, replication across the sample is required to evaluate the overall effectiveness of CBSC for reducing CG depression. Specific competencies and ethical considerations in supervising this form of intervention are also addressed.

The descriptive analysis of the types and frequency of problems of African American dementia caregivers coupled with the outcomes of the psychometric evaluation bode well for the adoption of the DCPI-A in clinical settings. (PsycINFO Database Record