Caring for Dementia Caregivers in Ethnic Immigrant Communities

NCT07550075 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: R01AG090561
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 120
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Many caregivers of people with Alzheimer's disease or other dementias-especially those in immigrant communities who don't speak English well-don't get access to helpful, proven support programs. This is especially true for Korean American caregivers. To address this, the investigative team adapted an existing caregiver support program (called the Savvy Caregiver Program) to better fit Korean culture and language. This new version, called K-Savvy, is a 6-week online program taught in Korean. In an earlier small study, K-Savvy worked well: caregivers found it helpful, were willing to use it, and showed fewer symptoms of depression. Now, the investigative team wants to study it more carefully to see how well it really works and why. The study has two main goals: Goal 1: The investigative team will measure whether K-Savvy improves caregivers' well-being-specifically whether it reduces stress and depression and helps them feel more positive about caregiving. The investigative team will also look at why it works, focusing on whether it changes how caregivers think about their situation (for example, feeling less overwhelmed and more confident). Goal 2: The investigative team will talk directly with caregivers and program instructors to understand their experiences with K-Savvy. This will help the investigative team learn what worked well, what didn't, and why.

Conditions

No Disease or Condition is Being Studied; Stress (Psychology)

Keywords

K-Savvy

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• depressive symptoms

  symptoms of depression assessed with Patient Health Questionnaire-9, range from 0 to 27 (higher scores indicating greater depressive symptoms)

  from enrollment to 6-month follow-up

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• caregiver burden

  from enrollment to 6-month follow-up

Study Arms (3)

K-Savvy

EXPERIMENTAL

immediate enrollment in K-Savvy, 6-week online psychoeducation program

Behavioral: K-Savvy

Healthy Living

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

enrollment in a 6-week online health education program and subsequent enrollment in K-Savvy

Behavioral: K-Savvy; Behavioral: Healthy Living

waitlist control

OTHER

K-Savvy enrollment after a waiting period

Behavioral: K-Savvy

Interventions

K-Savvy BEHAVIORAL

Funded by the NIA (R21AG071790, PI: Jang), our team successfully completed linguistic and cultural adaptations of the Savvy Caregiver Program (SCP) for Korean American dementia caregivers with limited English Proficiency. The Korean version of the SCP (K-Savvy) has shown high feasibility, acceptability, and initial efficacy.

Healthy Living; K-Savvy; waitlist control

Healthy Living BEHAVIORAL

6-week online health education for Korean Americans with limited English proficiency

Healthy Living

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Self-identified Korean American adults aged 18 or older Provide care for a family member with dementia as a primary caregiver Primary caregiver defined as providing a minimum of 10 hours per week of in-home caregiving to a family member Speak English less than "very well" Able to attend virtual classes using an electronic device with Internet access

You may not qualify if:

• Individuals with severe depression (Patient Health Questionnaire \[PHQ-9\] score ≥ 20), as K-Savvy is not a mental health treatment program

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Southern California: lead

Study Sites (1)

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, California, 90089, United States

Location

Central Study Contacts

Yuri Jang, PhD

CONTACT

213-821-6441; yurij@usc.edu

Min-Kyoung Rhee, PhD

CONTACT

213-740-1725; minkyour@usc.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: SUPPORTIVE CARE
• Intervention Model: SEQUENTIAL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: April 17, 2026
• First Posted: April 24, 2026
• Study Start: May 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 30, 2030
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 30, 2030
• Last Updated: April 30, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-04

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL

Locations

US (1)