An experimental study on the effectiveness of a mutual support group for family caregivers of a relative with dementia in mainland China

Abstract

When caring for an older relative with dementia, family members experience considerable distress and burden. Literature reviews show that supportive group interventions for these caregivers have significant positive effects on improving their distress and quality of life, but not consistent and conclusive. Limited research is found in Asian populations. This study tested the effectiveness of a 12-session bi-weekly mutual support group program for Chinese family caregivers of a relative with dementia in Guangzhou of mainland China, when compared with standard family support service. An experimental study with pretest and posttest, parallel groups design was conducted. A randomized sample of 78 family caregivers, 39 in each of the experimental and control groups, from one regional dementia care center participated in the study. A protocol was specifically designed by an advanced practice nurse to guide the mutual support group process and the facilitator and peer leader training, based on evidence from the literature on family support group intervention in Western countries.The results of ANOVA tests indicated that the mutual support group participants had significantly greater improvements in distress levels and quality of life than the control group. There were only mild changes in the demands for mental health services in both groups at post-test. These findings support the effectiveness of mutual support groups to offer psychosocial support to Chinese family caregivers in dementia care beyond routine community mental health care.Effectiveness of mutual support group 3

Attitudes towards people with mental illness among psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses, involved family members and the general population in a large city in Guangzhou, China

“…This result draws attention to the crucial issue of what has been called "family burden" the painful, often debilitating and health endangering experience of caring for seriously mentally ill family members’ day in and day out. These experiences may be especially strong in Asian countries such as China in which the family, rather than the state or society, has a heavy burden of responsibility for mentally ill relatives, extending even to fiscal responsibility for their occasional damage of neighborhood property or criminal conduct [23,24]. …”

What is known from the existing literature about peer support interventions for carers of individuals living with dementia: A scoping review

“…Some of the papers reporting face‐to‐face studies are linked, but for the purposes of the review when reporting the outcomes for the interventions each paper will be individually included as they each present different outcome data from the original study. Linked research papers are: Andren and Elmståhl (, ); Gaugler, Reese, and Mittelman (); Gaugler, Roth, Haley, and Mittelman (), Gaugler, Roth, Haley, and Mittelman () and Mittelman, Roth, Clay, and Haley (); Laakkonen et al () and Laakkonen et al (); and Wai Tong and Lee (), Wang and Chien () with Wang, Chien, and Lee (). Therefore, the scoping review identified 28 original studies represented by 36 research papers.…”

Family caregiver challenges in dementia care in a country with undeveloped dementia services

“…, Wang et al . ). In fact, in China, caring for older people is assigned to family members by law (The 11th Standing Committee of the National People's Congress ).…”

“…, Wang et al . ). In China, nurses are in an ideal position to lead homecare for people with dementia and support caregivers because they make up the majority of health professionals in Community Care Centres and have more contact and closer relationships with the local residents compared with other health professionals (Wei et al .…”