1. Evidence-Based Psychological Treatments for Distress in Family Caregivers of Older Adult.
- Author
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Gallagher-Thompson, Dolores and Coon, David W.
- Subjects
- *
PSYCHOLOGICAL distress , *MENTAL depression , *CAREGIVERS , *COGNITIVE therapy , *EVIDENCE-based medicine - Abstract
This review identifies evidence-based psychological treatments (EBTs) for reducing distress, and improving well-being, of family members caring for an older relative with significant cognitive and/or physical impairment. Three categories of psychologically derived treatments met EBT criteria: psychoeducational programs (N = 14 studies), psychotherapy (N = 3 studies), and multicomponent interventions (N = 2 studies). Specifically, support within the psychoeducational category was found for skill-training programs focused on behavior management, depression management, and anger management and for the progressively lowered threshold model. Within the psychotherapy category, cognitive-behavioral therapy enjoys strong empirical support. Within the multicomponent category, programs using a combination of at least 2 distinct theoretical approaches (e.g., individual counseling and support group attendance) were also found to be effective. Suggestions for future research include the development of more well-integrated multicomponent approaches, greater inclusion of ethnically diverse family caregivers in research protocols, and greater incorporation of new technologies for treatment delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2007
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