The Effectiveness of CBTAC Protocol on Burdens of Alzheimer’s Disease on Caregivers and their Sense of Coherence

Background: Alzheimer's disease is predicted to increase dramatically in the near future. Alzheimer caregiving brings about serious problems for caregivers. Considering corrosive consequences of Alzheimer’s disease on Alzheimer caregivers, finding an effective intervention is necessary. Thus, the present research was conducted by the aim of investigating the effectiveness of CBTAC protocol on burdens of Alzheimer’s disease on caregivers and their sense of coherence.

Methods: This study was a quasi-experimental research with pretest-posttest control group design. The target population included all mild Alzheimer’s disease patients and their caregivers referred to neurology ward of the hospitals in Rasht during summer 2018. According to the medical records and results of screening, 40 mild Alzheimer’s disease patients and their caregivers were recruited by convenience sampling method. After sampling, research participants were randomly assigned into two experimental (n= 20) and wait list control (n= 20) groups. The Impact of Alzheimer’s Disease on Caregiver Questionnaire and Sense of Coherence Scale were used to measure burdens of Alzheimer’s disease on caregivers and caregivers’ sense of coherence. The CBTAC provided for the experimental group participants in 25 sessions of 90-minutes. In the end, the data analyze have done by multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) and using SPSS24 software.

Results: The findings indicated that the CBTAC had significant effect on burdens and sense of coherence of Alzheimer caregivers in experimental group (p <0.01). In other words, the CBTAC decrease burdens and increase sense of coherence of Alzheimer caregivers significantly (p <0.01).

Conclusion: Based on research results, the CBTAC is an effective intervention in decreasing caregiving burden and increasing sense of coherence of Alzheimer caregivers. Therefore, the CBTAC is a multicomponent intervention that can be used to improve competency and mental health of Alzheimer’s caregivers.