Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Aging
Date Submitted: Oct 8, 2023
Open Peer Review Period: Oct 8, 2023 - Oct 23, 2023
Date Accepted: Jan 12, 2024
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
A web-based intervention based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for family caregivers of people with dementia: A mixed methods feasibility study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), as an empirically-based third-wave cognitive behavioral therapy, has shown promise in enhancing well-being and functioning across diverse populations. However, in the context of caregiving, the effect size of available ACT interventions remains at best moderate, sometimes accompanied by high drop-out rates, highlighting the need for more effective intervention designs.
Objective:
The objective of our study was to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of this guided online ACT intervention, which was designed to boost psychological flexibility and support caregivers during a collaborative goal-setting, enabling them to realize and commit to their values.
Methods:
This mixed-methods feasibility study presents a 9-week online self-help intervention based on ACT, incorporating weekly online motivational coaching for family caregivers of people with dementia. This uncontrolled pre–post intervention study involved 30 informal caregivers recruited through memory clinics and social media platforms in the Netherlands and received approval from the Medical Ethics Committee of the Maastricht University Medical Centre (NL77389.068.21/metc21-029).
Results:
A total n=24 caregivers completed the post-intervention assessment, indicating a high adherence rate (83%). Caregivers reported positive feedback regarding the collaborative goal-setting, but some found challenges in implementing new skills due to their own habitual responses or unpredictable context of dementia caregiving. Personalizing the intervention based on individual value preferences was highlighted as beneficial.
Conclusions:
Compared to other self-help online ACT interventions for family caregivers, this study showed a high adherence, which underscores the use of personalization in delivering online interventions. Moreover, the potential of ACT-based interventions for family caregivers of people with dementia is demonstrated, suggesting that further research and larger-scale controlled trials are warranted to validate its effectiveness. Clinical Trial: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05064969
Citation
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Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.