Development of cognitive behavioral therapy based intervention for family caregivers of individuals with dementia diagnosis and investigation of its effects

Dementia is the general name of a group of problems and conditions characterized by a decrease in memory, language, problem solving and other cognitive skills that affect the daily life of the individual. Most of the individuals diagnosed with dementia are cared for by their family members. Both the diagnosis of dementia of a relative and the long hours of caregiving brings many problems to the caregivers. Caregivers report high levels of caregiver burden, stress, and psychological symptoms. In addition, caregiving negatively affects the social support and quality of life of caregivers. These effects of caregiving increase the importance of psychological interventions. Caregivers also stated that they needed psychological help the most. It is stated that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is effective within the scope of psychological assistance. The aim of this study is to develop a cognitive behavioral therapy-based intervention for the caregivers of a person with dementia, based on cognitive behavioral therapy and the stress process model. Thirty-five family members caregiving for individuals with dementia participated in the study. Participants were randomly assigned to an intervention and a control group. Participants in the intervention group received the intervention individually, eight consecutive weeks, once a week for a hour. Measurements were taken from the participants in the intervention group before and after the intervention. Measurements were taken twice, with an interval of eight weeks, from the participants in the control group. After the second measurement, the participants in the control group were informed about caregiving and behavior management. In the measurements, participants completed Demographic Information Form, Shortened Version of Zarit Caregiver Burden Interview, Perceived Stress Scale, Brief Symptom Inventory, Revised Form of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, World Health Organization Quality of Life – Short Form, and Intervention Evaluation and Feedback Form. Within the scope of the main study, 2 (group: intervention group and control group) X 2 (time: before intervention and after intervention) mixed ANOVA was applied to compare the intervention and control groups. It has been found that the intervention reduced the psychological symptoms, stress levels and burden of care for caregivers of individuals with dementia and increases perceived social support and quality of life. It is concluded that the newly developed intervention program has positive effects on caregiver burden, perceived stress, psychological symptoms, depression, anxiety, negative self concept, somatization, hostility, perceived social support, perceived social support from family, perceived social support from a friend, perceived social from a special person, and quality of life of the caregivers of a person with dementia. The findings, strengths and weaknesses of the study were discussed in the light of the relevant literature. Also, suggestions were made for future studies.