Positive Dementia Caregiving: Clinical Trial of an Online Training Program

NCT06409455 | Completed Phase 2

• 1 other identifier: 18622322
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 274
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this study is to learn if a new online training program is helpful to dementia family caregivers. This online program is fully computerized and supports 24/7 access from any location. The main questions it aims to answer are:

• Does the training program improves the participants' well-being and sense of positive meaning?
• If the program is found to be helpful, does it work through enhancing caregivers' self-belief or getting them to practice positive interpretation of caregiving challenges? To answer these questions, researchers will compare the online program to a waitlist control. Participants will:
• Use the intervention (requiring internet access) in a self-guided manner
• Respond to brief questionnaires at the beginning, and 1, 2 and 3 months afterwards

Conditions

Caregiver Stress Syndrome

Keywords

Family caregiving

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Depressive symptoms

  Patient Health Questionnaire-9; possible scores 0-27, higher = more depressed

  baseline, 1 month, 2 months, 3 months

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Anxiety symptoms

  baseline, 1 month, 2 months, 3 months

• Caregiver burden

  baseline, 1 month, 2 months, 3 months

• Positive aspects of caregiving

  baseline, 1 month, 2 months, 3 months

Other Outcomes (2)

• Caregiving self-efficacy

  3 weeks

• Positive reappraisal coping

  3 weeks

Study Arms (2)

Intervention

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Caregiver training

Behavioral: Positive Dementia Caregiving in 30 Days

Waitlist control

OTHER

Waitlist control

Behavioral: Positive Dementia Caregiving in 30 Days

Interventions

Positive Dementia Caregiving in 30 Days BEHAVIORAL

Based on an evidence-based face-to-face Benefit-Finding Intervention, a computer-delivered web-based program supporting 24/7 access without location restriction, is developed. It is a psychoeducation program with an emphasis on strengthening caregivers' coping capacity through skills training and developing a positive way of looking at caregiving challenges. The program consists of reading materials, illustrated texts, caregivers' testimonies, a chatbot, and several interactive apps to facilitate self-learning at the caregiver's own pace.

Also known as: Benefit-finding Intervention (Online Version)

Intervention; Waitlist control

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Having been a dementia caregiver for 3 or more months
• Providing 10 or more hours of care per week
• Scoring 5 or above on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9
• Passing a simple reading comprehension test

You may not qualify if:

• Caregiver having participated in any training/therapeutic program on dementia care in the past year
• Care-recipient residing in an institution

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Education University of Hong Kong: lead
• The Hong Kong Polytechnic University: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

The Education University of Hong Kong

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Location

Related Publications (2)

• Cheng ST, Chan WC, Lam LCW. Long-Term Outcomes of the Benefit-Finding Group Intervention for Alzheimer Family Caregivers: A Cluster-Randomized Double-Blind Controlled Trial. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2019 Sep;27(9):984-994. doi: 10.1016/j.jagp.2019.03.013. Epub 2019 Mar 26.

  PMID: 31076215 BACKGROUND

• Cheng ST, Mak EPM, Kwok T, Fung H, Lam LCW. Benefit-Finding Intervention Delivered Individually to Alzheimer Family Caregivers: Longer-Term Outcomes of a Randomized Double-Blind Controlled Trial. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2020 Oct 16;75(9):1884-1893. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbz118.

  PMID: 31556447 BACKGROUND

Study Officials

• Sheung-Tak Cheng, PhD

  The Education University of Hong Kong

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: phase 2
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Masking Details: Assessor bias is eliminated by having the assessment instruments administered by the computer in an automated manner, without human involvement.
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Chair Professor of Psychology and Gerontology

Model Details: Randomized parallel group (treatment vs. waitlist control) design

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 7, 2024
• First Posted: May 10, 2024
• Study Start: December 19, 2024
• Primary Completion: September 30, 2025
• Study Completion: September 30, 2025
• Last Updated: October 1, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-09

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ICF, ANALYTIC CODE
• Time Frame: After study completion
• Access Criteria: Open access

Locations

HK (1)