Jinyu Liu, Ethan Siu Leung Cheung, Yifan Lou, Bei Wu
{"title":"A peer mentoring program for Chinese American dementia caregivers: a pilot randomized controlled trial.","authors":"Jinyu Liu, Ethan Siu Leung Cheung, Yifan Lou, Bei Wu","doi":"10.1080/13607863.2024.2346599","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>A large gap exists in the development of culturally sensitive interventions to reduce stress related to dementia care among Chinese Americans, one of the fastest growing minority populations in the United States. We developed and pilot tested the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a peer mentoring program for Chinese American dementia caregivers.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>A pilot randomized controlled trial was conducted among 38 Chinese American caregivers in New York City. Four outcome variables-caregiving competence, loneliness, caregiver burden, and depressive symptoms-were measured at baseline and 3-month and 9-month follow-ups. The study protocol and preliminary results are available at clinicltrial.gov [NCT04346745].</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The feasibility of the intervention was high, as indicated by an acceptable retention rate, fidelity, and positive feedback from caregivers and mentors. Compared with the control group, the intervention group had greater reductions in scores for loneliness at 3-month follow-up and for caregiver burden and depressive symptoms at 9-month follow-up. We did not find significant differences in caregiving competence between the two groups.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The results indicated the high feasibility and potential efficacy of empowering existing human resources of experienced caregivers in the same ethnic community to improve the mental health of Chinese caregivers. Further research is needed to test the efficacy in a larger sample of this population.</p>","PeriodicalId":55546,"journal":{"name":"Aging & Mental Health","volume":" ","pages":"1479-1488"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8000,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Aging & Mental Health","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2024.2346599","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/5/2 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"GERIATRICS & GERONTOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objectives: A large gap exists in the development of culturally sensitive interventions to reduce stress related to dementia care among Chinese Americans, one of the fastest growing minority populations in the United States. We developed and pilot tested the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a peer mentoring program for Chinese American dementia caregivers.
Method: A pilot randomized controlled trial was conducted among 38 Chinese American caregivers in New York City. Four outcome variables-caregiving competence, loneliness, caregiver burden, and depressive symptoms-were measured at baseline and 3-month and 9-month follow-ups. The study protocol and preliminary results are available at clinicltrial.gov [NCT04346745].
Results: The feasibility of the intervention was high, as indicated by an acceptable retention rate, fidelity, and positive feedback from caregivers and mentors. Compared with the control group, the intervention group had greater reductions in scores for loneliness at 3-month follow-up and for caregiver burden and depressive symptoms at 9-month follow-up. We did not find significant differences in caregiving competence between the two groups.
Conclusion: The results indicated the high feasibility and potential efficacy of empowering existing human resources of experienced caregivers in the same ethnic community to improve the mental health of Chinese caregivers. Further research is needed to test the efficacy in a larger sample of this population.
期刊介绍:
Aging & Mental Health provides a leading international forum for the rapidly expanding field which investigates the relationship between the aging process and mental health. The journal addresses the mental changes associated with normal and abnormal or pathological aging, as well as the psychological and psychiatric problems of the aging population. The journal also has a strong commitment to interdisciplinary and innovative approaches that explore new topics and methods.
Aging & Mental Health covers the biological, psychological and social aspects of aging as they relate to mental health. In particular it encourages an integrated approach for examining various biopsychosocial processes and etiological factors associated with psychological changes in the elderly. It also emphasizes the various strategies, therapies and services which may be directed at improving the mental health of the elderly and their families. In this way the journal promotes a strong alliance among the theoretical, experimental and applied sciences across a range of issues affecting mental health and aging. The emphasis of the journal is on rigorous quantitative, and qualitative, research and, high quality innovative studies on emerging topics.