This site uses cookies to measure how you use the website so it can be updated and improved based on your needs and also uses cookies to help remember the notifications you’ve seen, like this one, so that we don’t show them to you again. If you could also tell us a little bit about yourself, this information will help us understand how we can support you better and make this site even easier for you to use and navigate.

Outcomes from the Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer’s Caregiver Health (REACH) program for bereaved caregivers

Authors

Holland, Jason M., Currier, Joseph M., Gallagher-Thompson, Dolores

Journal

Psychology And Aging, Volume: 24, No.: 1, Pages.: 190-202

Year of Publication

2009

Abstract

Although preventive efforts for bereaved individuals have not been shown to be particularly effective in past studies, it has been suggested that intervention effects might be underestimated due to methodological issues such as short follow-up assessments. Thus, the present study aimed to assess the efficacy (as whole intervention packages and as component parts) of the Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer’s Caregiver Health (REACH) interventions in preventing complicated grief, normal grief, and depressive symptoms at a longer term follow-up assessment among bereaved caregivers (N = 224). On average, active interventions showed a statistically significant effect on normal grief symptoms (d = 0.28), exhibited a trend toward improvement on complicated grief symptoms (d = 0.25), and demonstrated little impact on depressive symptoms (d = 0.09). Interestingly, the examination of intervention components revealed differential effects, whereby cognitive and behavioral strategies were most effective at reducing levels of complicated grief, information and emotional support were most effective for addressing normal grief, and environmental modifications were most effective for ameliorating depressive symptoms. These findings suggest that different preloss interventions might be warranted depending on a caregiver’s unique clinical presentation and combination of risk factors.;

Bibtex Citation

@article{Holland_2009, doi = {10.1037/a0014303}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0014303}, year = 2009, publisher = {American Psychological Association ({APA})}, volume = {24}, number = {1}, pages = {190--202}, author = {Jason M. Holland and Joseph M. Currier and Dolores Gallagher-Thompson}, title = {Outcomes from the Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer{textquotesingle}s Caregiver Health ({REACH}) program for bereaved caregivers.}, journal = {Psychology and Aging} }

Keywords

adjustment disorders, aged, aged, 80 and over, alzheimer disease, bereavement, caregivers, carers, cognitive therapy, diagnosis, female, for, former, grief, humans, intervention, male, middle aged, personality inventory, prevention & control, psychology, quality of life, social environment, social support, symptoms

Countries of Study

USA

Types of Dementia

Alzheimer’s Disease

Type of Outcomes

Carers’ Mental Health, Other carer outcomes (e.g. financial burden and more)

Type of Interventions

Intervention for Carers