The effects of a Cognitive Stimulation Therapy [CST] programme for people with dementia on family caregivers’ health

BMC Geriatrics

Research Article

Robert T Woods¹  Zoe Hoare²  Aimee Spector³  Martin Orrell⁴  Elisa Aguirre⁴ 

[1] DSDC Wales, Bangor University, 45 College Road, LL57 2AS, Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales;North Wales Organisation for Randomised Trials in Health [NWORTH], Institute of Medical & Social Care Research, Bangor, Wales;Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, 1-19 Torrington Place, WC1E 7HB, London, England;Unit of Mental Health Sciences, University College London, Charles Bell House, 67-73 Riding House Street, W1W 7EJ, London, England;Research and Development Department, North East London Foundation Trust, Goodmayes Hospital, Barley Lane, Ilford, Essex, England;

关键词: Dementia;    Alzheimer’s disease;    Family caregivers;    Cognitive stimulation;    Quality of life;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2318-14-31

 received in 2013-07-10, accepted in 2014-02-18,  发布年份 2014

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThere is growing evidence that Cognitive Simulation Therapy (CST) benefits cognition and quality of life of people with dementia, but little is known about the indirect effects of this intervention on family caregivers. This study sought to investigate the effect of CST on family caregivers general health status of people with dementia living in the community attending the CST intervention.MethodEighty-five family caregivers of people with dementia took part in the study. All the people with dementia received the standard twice weekly seven weeks of the CST intervention plus either 24 weeks of a maintenance CST (MCST) intervention or 24 weeks of treatment as usual. Family caregivers were assessed before and after their relatives the CST programme, and after 3 and 6 months of the MCST programme. A pre and post CST groups comparison was undertaken to evaluate the open trial first phase and an ANCOVA model used to analyse the maintenance phase with its controlled comparison.ResultsWe found no evidence for a benefit on the family caregiver outcome measures of the intervention before and after CST groups by using a t-test analysis or any significant differences between intervention and control groups for any of the variables considered at any time point (3 and 6 month follow up).ConclusionCST seems to have a relatively specific benefit fpr people with dementia that may not carry over to family carers. Future studies need to further explore and compare the effects that CST might bring to family caregivers of people with dementia attending the intervention.Trial registrationCurrent Controlled Trials ISRCTN26286067

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Aguirre et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2014