MindWalk Intervention for Older South Asian Caregivers of People With Cognitive Disabilities (CD)

Older family caregivers, ages 45 and older of people with cognitive disabilities often experience high levels of stress and psychological distress which can result in cognitive decline. Both physical activity (PA) and cognitive training (CT) have shown to improve cognitive function in older adults who experience cognitive function decline because of psychological stress. There are some activities such as South Asian martial arts and yoga, that the South Asian community is familiar with, however there seems to be limited research incorporating mindful walking as an activity combining PA and CT. Specifically, mindful walking is a technique to learn to be more present and focused on the here and now while engaged in the physical activity of walking. Older South Asian family caregivers experience elevated psychological stress and limited physical activity due to caregiving responsibilities and additional factors such as lack of access to services, cultural and linguistic barriers, stigma and discrimination. South Asian family caregivers are especially underserved and are a growing ethnic group in the US. However, there are no studies using this approach for this population. We propose a randomized control trial pilot study to address this gap titled MindWalk: A Mindful Walking Intervention for Older South Asian Family Caregivers of People with Cognitive Disabilities with Perceived Psychological Stress. Driven by a Community Advisory Committee (CAC) we will develop this 12-week mindful walking intervention using a participatory research methodology in partnership with UIC's Cognition Behavior and Mindfulness Clinic that combines the physical activity of walking and the cognitive training through mindfulness. We will recruit fifty participants and will randomly and equally assign 25 people to the intervention and 25 people to the control group. The intervention will include: 1) a mindful walking training followed by 2) a prescribed mindful walking regimen, 3) self-reporting of adherence to regimen by the participants using activity logbooks and use of a user-friendly PA tracker (Fitbit) for daily step count, and 4) personalized text messages with reminders and motivational messages for participants to do the mindful walking as prescribed including a weekly check-in call or text message for accountability. The primary aim of the proposed pilot study is to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the protocol and intervention implementation. A secondary aim will evaluate the intervention to examine preliminary efficacy in reduction of psychological stress, improvement in cognitive function, increase in physical activity, and increased self-efficacy (self-efficacy for coping with stress, self-efficacy for physical activity, and overall self-efficacy). The findings of this pilot project will provide evidence-based data to support a larger scale study proposal for future funding such as the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) field initiative award, or the National Institute of Health (NIH) Research Project Grant (R21 NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Award) award, especially National Institute on Aging (NIA) grants.

Inclusion criteria

• Older South Asian family caregivers (45 years or older) caring for a person with cognitive disability of any age
• Self-reported insufficient physical activity (defined as participating in moderate physical activity less than 60 min/week) and not engaged in mindfulness training
• Self-reporting of experiencing psychological stress;
• Own a smartphone with a data plan or Bluetooth-enabled device (e.g., tablets such as iPad) to sync data from the Fitbit tracker to the Fitbit app and to receive text messages
• Ability to speak, understand, read and write English; ability to provide informed consent

Exclusion criteria

• Non-South Asian caregivers
• Caregivers less than 45 years old
• Having self-reported sufficient physical activity (defined as participating in moderate physical activity more than 60 min/week) and engaged in some form of mindfulness training
• Not owning a smartphone with a data plan or Bluetooth-enabled device (e.g., tablets such as iPad)
• Mobility limitation
• Taking medications or other behavioral treatment for stress reduction; acute or chronic diseases at baseline
• Inability to understand, speak, read, and write English
• Inability to provide informed consent