The Coping with Caregiving Group Program for Chinese caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease in Hong Kong.

OBJECTIVE

This pilot study evaluated the effectiveness of Coping with Caregiving (CWC) psychoeducational program for Chinese family caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease in Hong Kong.

METHOD

Twenty-seven female primary caregivers were randomized to join the treatment group or wait-list control group. The caregivers in the treatment group participated in 13 weekly training sessions which taught specific cognitive-behavioral strategies to handle caregiving stress.

RESULTS

As compared to the wait-list control group, caregivers completing the CWC program demonstrated a significant increase in their self-efficacy for controlling their upsetting thoughts and handling disruptive behaviors of the care recipients. They also reported a significant increase in the use of both problem-focused and emotion-focused coping strategies.

CONCLUSION

These findings suggested that cognitive-behavioral programs can be effective in improving the resourcefulness of Chinese caregivers of persons with dementia in Hong Kong.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Future CWC programs will have to enhance participants' ability to differentiate among various coping skills and to use situation-appropriate strategies.