A Chronic Grief Intervention for Dementia Family Caregivers in Long-Term Care

Abstract

Dementia caregivers do not relinquish their role after placing family members in long-term care and they experience increased chronic grief. The Chronic Grief Management Intervention (CGMI) is a12-week group-based program that uses guided discussion to deliver knowledge of Alzheimer’s or a related dementia and teach skills in communication, conflict resolution, and chronic grief management in dementia caregivers who placed their family members in long-term care. Using a quasi-experimental design, 83 caregivers from 15 long-term care facilities received either the CGMI (n = 34) or a comparison condition consisting of two check-in calls (n = 49). In this pilot study, we examined the feasibility of implementing the CGMI and evaluated the effects of the intervention on caregivers’ knowledge and skill and their chronic grief and depression. The intervention was feasible and resulted in significant improvement in caregivers’ heartfelt sadness and longing at 3 months and a significant drop in their guilt at the 6-month follow-up.

Do interventions that include education on dementia progression improve knowledge, mental health and burden of family carers? A systematic review

“…The full texts of the remaining 16 citations were retrieved and reviewed in-depth. Of the 16 studies, 11 meet our inclusion criteria (Chien & Lee, 2011;Cristancho-Lacroix et al, 2015;Gavrilova et al, 2009;Guerra, Ferri, Fonseca, Banerjee, & Prince, 2011;Hepburn, Tornatore, Center, & Ostwald, 2001;Kurz, Wagenpfeil, Hallauer, Schneider-Schelte, & Jansen, 2010;Lindstrom Bremer, 2007;Martin-Cook, Remakel-Davis, Svetlik, Hynan, & Weiner, 2003;Onor et al, 2007;Pahlavanzadeh, Heidari, Maghsudi, Ghazavi, & Samandari, 2010;Paun et al, 2015).…”

“…Gallagher-Thompson et al, 2007), and one other study was excluded because the control condition also consisted of an education component on progression of dementia (Bramble, Moyle, & Shum, 2011). Paun et al (2015) described their study as a quasi-experimental trial where randomisation was by long-term care facility. Through consulting a statistician, we recategorised the study as a cluster-randomised controlled trial and included it in our review.…”

“…Through consulting a statistician, we recategorised the study as a cluster-randomised controlled trial and included it in our review. Two other studies were pilot studies (Cristancho-Lacroix et al, 2015;Paun et al, 2015). Figure 1 shows the review flow diagram.…”

“…In Chien and Lee (2011) and Kurz et al (2010) studies, the intervention was tailored to carers' needs. Psychological supports were offered to carers in two studies (Onor et al, 2007;Paun et al, 2015); the Onor et al study (2007) was only evident in four studies. There was no evidence of attrition bias in the studies.…”

The Residential Care Transition Module: a single-blinded randomized controlled evaluation of a telehealth support intervention for family caregivers of persons with dementia living in residential long-term care

“…These various approaches have modest, mixed, or no effects in increasing family involvement, enhancing staff satisfaction, and improving resident well-being [42]. Although several pilot studies and a published randomized controlled trial (RCT) report on providing direct support to families of institutionalized relatives, these programs either lack sufficient rigor to support their implementation or did not result in positive outcomes for family caregivers due in part to the clinical content, delivery, and measurement approach selected [43][44][45]. The RCTM will fill an important clinical and research gap, as it is a multidimensional intervention designed specifically for families following RLTC entry of a relative.…”