Telephone Assessment and Skill-Building Intervention for Stroke Caregivers

Stroke is the number one cause of disability in the United States, and over 4 million stroke survivors are alive today. Many stroke survivors need the help of a family caregiver. A family caregiver is a family member or close friend who helps the stroke survivor once they go home. Many caregivers need information and support during the first few months after the stroke survivor is discharged home. One group of caregivers will receive the TASK II intervention and another group of caregivers will receive existing educational materials about stroke and caregiving through an information, support, and referral (ISR) process. Both groups of caregivers will receive written materials about stroke and caregiving by mail and weekly telephone calls by a nurse for a total of 8 weeks, with an additional call at 12 weeks. A research assistant will also call by telephone at the beginning of the study, and at 8, 12, and 24 weeks after the beginning of the study, with a follow-up call at 1 year to interview both groups of caregivers about their caregiving activities and about their own health and well-being. If shown to be efficacious, our next goal will be to translate the TASK II intervention into practice settings to meet current recommendations and guidelines that emphasize follow up care for stroke survivors and their family caregivers.

Inclusion criteria

• Primary caregiver (unpaid family member or significant other) of a stroke survivor
• No more than 8 weeks after survivor discharged home
• Plans to be providing care for 1 year or longer
• Access to a telephone
• Willingness to participate in 9 calls from a nurse and 5 data collection interviews at designated study time points

Exclusion criteria

• Caregiver or survivor age < 21 years
• Caregiver denies that survivor has had a stroke
• Caregiver does not consider him or herself a caregiver, stating that the survivor is not impaired or is the same as before the stroke
• Caregiver has low task difficulty (OCBS task difficulty score < 16)
• Caregiver communication difficulties (e.g., hearing loss)
• Caregiver not fluent in the English language
• Caregiver 6-item MMSE score less than 4
• Survivor residing in a nursing home or long-term care facility
• Survivor or caregiver has a terminal illness (e.g., cancer, end of life condition with decreased life expectancy, renal failure requiring dialysis)
• Survivor or caregiver history of hospitalization for alcohol or drug abuse
• Survivor or caregiver history of severe mental illness (e.g., Alzheimer's, dementia, suicidal tendencies, severe untreated depression or manic depressive disorder, schizophrenia)
• Survivor or caregiver pregnancy
• Survivor or caregiver is a prisoner or on house arrest