GamePlan4Care: Online Support for Family Caregivers
GamePlan4Care: Online Support for Family Caregivers
As the population of older adults grows, almost doubling in size from 2012 to 2040, so too
 will the need for family caregiving. Caregiving can lead to negative psychosocial outcomes
 such as depression, anxiety, and burden; social isolation and family conflict: financial
 strain due to costs of care; and some caregivers also experience negative health
 consequences. This project will test the value of GamePlan4Care (GP4C) an evidence-based,
 internet-enabled system capable of providing immediate, tailored education and skills
 training to caregivers who can access live support from a DCS via phone or web-based video.
Daily care and supervision of a person living with dementia (PWD) has been defined as
 "intense caregiving" and is associated with significant daily burdens and an overall threat
 to the caregiver's quality of life. Despite evidence suggesting that negative consequence can
 be remediated with community-based supports, those services remain allusive to caregivers due
 to the systemic challenges of turning interventions into services. This study is based on a
 practical approach of applying technology to an existing evidence-based intervention,
 Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer's Caregiver Health II (REACH II), refined with real-world
 user feedback and rigorously tested with the goal of creating an online family caregiver
 support system that has the potential of both scalability and sustainability. This two-group
 randomized controlled trial will compare the relative impact of GP4C to an education-based
 online site called Resources4Care (R4C) on a wide range of family caregiver outcomes. Family
 caregivers will be randomized to one of the two conditions and will complete an assessment
 battery at baseline and at the 6-month follow-up.
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  Must be age 18 years or older

 -  Providing at least 8 hours of weekly care and/or supervision (on average) for a friend
 or family member with a self-reported diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease or a related
 dementia. Family will be subjectively determined by the caregiver to enable a broader
 definition of a" "family" member often found in minority communities (e.g., a person
 not related by blood but who serves in the role of an "aunt" or "grandchild").

 -  The family member, named as the care recipient (CR) in this proposal, must be
 diagnosed with AD/ADRD (self-report from the caregiver accepted) and is experiencing
 signs of dementia as verified by the family caregiver on the AD8 informant interview.
 A score of 2 or greater is the inclusion criteria.

 -  Must demonstrate access to a home computer with internet access to research staff and
 report using the computer to access the internet at least three times per week, on
 average.

 -  English-speaking caregivers

 -  Must reside within the recruitment area (Target counties within Texas: Bastrop, Bell,
 Blanco, Burnet, Caldwell, Coryell, Fayette, Hamilton, Hays, Lampasas, Lee, Llano,
 Milam, Mills, San Saba, Travis, Williamson)

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  Current participation in another caregiving evidence-based program

 -  Previous participation in usability testing for current system development