BackgroundInformal caregiving is the main source of care for older people in Europe. An enormous amount of responsibility and care activity is on the shoulders of family caregivers, who might experience problems in their psychological well-being and in reconciling caregiving and their personal sphere. In order to alleviate such burden, there is increasing interest and growing research in Europe on Web-based support addressing family caregivers and their needs. However, the level of development and penetration of innovative Web-based services for caregivers is still quite low and the access to traditional face-to-face services can be problematic for logistic, availability, and quality reasons.ObjectiveAs part of the European project INNOVAGE, a pilot study was conducted for developing and testing a Web-based psychosocial intervention aimed at empowering family caregivers of older people in Italy, Sweden, and Germany. The program offered information resources and interactive services to enable both professional and peer support.MethodsA mixed-methods, sequential explanatory design was adopted. Caregivers’ psychological well-being, perceived negative and positive aspects of caregiving, and social support received were assessed before and after the 3-month intervention. Poststudy, a subsample of users participated in focus groups to assist in the interpretation of the quantitative results.ResultsA total of 94 out of 118 family caregivers (79.7%) from the three countries used the Web platform at least once. The information resources were used to different extents in each country, with Italian users having the lowest median number of visits (5, interquartile range [IQR] 2-8), whereas German users had the highest number (17, IQR 7-66) (P<.001). The interactive services most frequently accessed (more than 12 times) in all countries were the social network (29/73, 40%) and private messages (27/73, 37%). The pretest-posttest analysis revealed some changes, particularly the slight worsening of perceived positive values of caregiving (Carers of Older People in Europe [COPE] positive value subscale: P=.02) and social support received (COPE quality-of-support subscale: P=.02; Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support subscale: P=.04), in all cases with small effect size (r range -.15 to -.18). Focus groups were conducted with 20 family caregivers and the content analysis of discussions identified five main themes: online social support, role awareness, caregiving activities, psychological well-being, and technical concerns. The analysis suggested the intervention was useful and appropriate, also stimulating a better self-efficacy and reappraisal of the caregivers’ role.ConclusionsThe intervention seemed to contribute to the improvement of family caregivers’ awareness, efficacy, and empowerment, which in turn may lead to a better self-recognition of their own needs and improved efforts for developing and accessing coping resources. A major implication of the study was the finalization and implementation of the InformCa...

The objective of our study was to describe the burden of a sample of 208 live-in/non-live-in caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). We analyzed the statistical correlation between Caregiver Burden Inventory (CBI) and the live-in/non-live-in caregiver status, and between the ''objective burden,'' the cognitive deterioration, functional ability, and psychic and behavioral disorders. Using analysis of variance (ANOVA), the live-in groups of caregivers were compared to each subscale and to the total CBI. Living with a patient causes a bigger burden associated to the ''developmental and physical burden,'' which is affected more by the functional impairment than by the cognitive-behavioral aspect. Understanding the aspects of this burden in the initial-intermediate phase of the disease and being able to monitor it over time could contribute to improving the interventions already in place, which affect burden, stress, and quality of life of caregivers and their sick family members.

The objective of our study was to demonstrate that living with a person affected by mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease can lead to an increased perception of the caregiver's burden using the Caregiver Burden Inventory (CBI). The sample consisted of 153 dyads, caregiver-patient. At baseline, a greater perception of the caregiver's burden was observed in the live-in caregivers. A further increase in the total burden of the live-in caregivers was noticed at the 6-month follow-up. More specifically, with the inclusion of correction factors such as the caregiver's age and the CBI subscales at baseline, the social and emotional burden becomes statistically significant (P < .001). The present paper confirms our hypothesis that live-in caregivers perceive a greater burden than nonlive-in, and this difference increases further after 6 months. The difference in involvement between live-in and nonlive-in caregivers could be the foundation to tailor more specific interventions.

IntroductionAlzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative syndrome characterized by cognitive deficits, loss of daily functions, and mental and behavioral disorders, which cause stress and negatively affect the quality of life. Studies in the field suggest that combining cognitive training with physical activity can reduce the risk of developing the disease and, once neurodegeneration has begun, it slows its progress. In particular, virtual reality and augmented reality administer cognitive stimulation while providing a link to autobiographical memory through reminiscence, enabling the improvement of the person's quality of life. The present protocol aims to evaluate the effectiveness of cognitive and physical treatments, integrated with the addition of virtual reality and reminiscence elements, using the Brainer software, in which people will find cognitive training, and the jDome® BikeAround™ system, which will allow participants to pedal along a personalized path projected on a schematic, using an exercise bike connected to the system.Methods and analysisFor this study, 78 patients with mild Alzheimer's dementia were recruited and divided into the Experimental Group (EG) and Control Group (CG). Sixteen treatment sessions of 60 min each were conducted for both groups (2 training sessions per week, for 8 weeks), including 1 patient at a time. The EG received cognitive treatment with Brainer and physical training with jDome, while the CG received cognitive treatment with Brainer and physical training with a classic bicycle. The evaluation mainly focused on the assessment of the person's cognitive status. Other analyses were conducted on the quality of life, mood, behavioral disorders, and physical function, which were considered secondary outcomes.DiscussionsThe ultimate goal of the present study is to test the effectiveness of a treatment for people with mild Alzheimer's focused on the integration of cognitive training and aerobic physical activity, using an exercise bike, with the addition of virtual reality and reminiscence elements.Ethics and disseminationThe study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the IRCCS INRCA. It was recorded in ClinicalTrials.gov on 2 June 2022 with the number NCT05402423. The study findings will be used for publication in peer-reviewed scientific journals and presentations in scientific meetings.