Featured ArticlePsychosocial telephone intervention for dementia caregivers: AÂ randomized, controlled trial

BackgroundIdentifying effective and accessible interventions for dementia caregivers is critical as dementia prevalence increases.ObjectiveExamine the effects of a telephone-based intervention on caregiver well-being.DesignRandomized, controlled trial.SettingAcademic medical center.ParticipantsTwo hundred and fifty distressed, family, dementia caregivers.InterventionCaregivers randomized to receive 16 telephone contacts over 6 months of either the Family Intervention: Telephone Tracking-Caregiver (FITT-C) or Telephone Support (TS).OutcomePrimary outcome variables were family caregivers' depressive symptoms, burden, and reactions to care recipients' behavior problems at 6 months.ResultsThe FITT-C intervention resulted in significantly improved caregiver depressive symptoms (P = .003; 27% net improvement) and less severe reactions to care-recipient depressive behaviors (P = .009; 29% net improvement) compared with the control condition (TS).ConclusionAn entirely telephone-based intervention improves caregivers' depressive symptoms and reactions to behavior problems in the care recipient and is comparable with reported results of face-to-face interventions.