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CaregivingNCT00646217

Self Care TALK Study - Promoting Stroke Caregiver Health

A study testing Self Care Talk in people with Caregiving, run by University of Kansas Medical Center at 1 site in United States.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

Most stroke survivors return home, where their care is supported by family and friends. Although family caring at home is usually rewarding, it is often challenging, too. The demands and responsibilities of caring for a loved one at home can be stressful. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 55 years and older
Conditions the study is for
Caregiving
What is being tested?
Self Care Talk
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
39 participants
Where
1 siteUnited States
Study dates
Jul 2005to Feb 2010
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 55 years and older
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Age 55 years or older
  • Married or married equivalent
  • Living with and caring for a spouse/partner surviving a first-ever stroke occurring 6 - 36 months before enrollment
  • Can participate by telephone
  • Speaks English

Who cannot join

None listed.

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

United States1 site
  • University of Kansas

    Kansas City, Kansas, 66160

Other trials in United States

About this study

Official title: Promoting Stroke Caregiver Health Vis Self Care TALK: Education and Support Telephone Partnerships With Nurses

Most stroke survivors return home, where their care is supported by family and friends. Although family caring at home is usually rewarding, it is often challenging, too. The demands and responsibilities of caring for a loved one at home can be stressful. The actual activities of caregiving vary according to the needs of the stroke survivor, but can include helping with bathing, dressing, eating, and many other activities. Caregivers must learn care techniques and how to manage changes in roles and lifestyle. While adjusting to these changes, caregivers may be advised to 'take care' of themselves, but may not receive guidance or support for doing this. In this study, we are testing a self-care intervention for older, spouse caregivers of persons with stroke to see how helpful the intervention is in reducing distress and in helping caregivers adopt and maintain healthy lifestyle behaviors.

We have developed an intervention for caregivers that is called Self-Care TALK. The intervention includes creating a health-promoting, self-care education and support partnership between caregivers and nurses through the use of weekly telephone conversations. Each conversation focuses on a health-related topic, such as: healthy habits, building self-esteem, focusing on the positive, avoiding role overload, communicating, and building meaning. The conversations follow a basic format, but also are unique to each person. Participants complete questionnaires before and after the intervention, so that we can test the effect of participation in Self-Care TALK on caregiver health.

We know that education and support about self-care can be achieved through partnerships between family caregivers and health care professionals. Our goal is to build on this knowledge in testing whether participation in the Self-Care TALK intervention will result in less distress and better health and well-being for spouse caregivers, compared to caregivers who receive no additional care beyond usual education and support. In working toward this goal, we are using a partnership approach, in which nurses and caregivers discuss several health-related topics and mutually identify creative solutions for caregivers to incorporate self-care and health-promotion strategies into their daily routines. Promoting healthy outcomes for caregivers is essential to supporting their personal well-being, and to fostering their ability to continue home care for their loved one.

Read the detailed description

Up to 80% of stroke survivors return to community living arrangements, where post-stroke care is supported mostly by family and friends. Although family caring at home is cost effective from a societal perspective, the challenges of caregiving can be significant and often result in negative outcomes for the caregiver, particularly when the caregiver is older and more vulnerable to caregiving demands. Caregivers are advised to 'take care', yet receive little direction regarding how to accomplish self-care goals.

The purpose of this study is to test the effectiveness of a self-care intervention for older, spouse caregivers of persons with stroke in reducing caregiving strain, promoting caregiver health and well-being, self-efficacy related to health, and in reducing depressive symptoms. A randomized, treatment/comparison, repeated-measures experimental design will be used to test the effectiveness of the theory-based, health-promoting treatment (Self-Care TALK) compared to usual care, for spouse caregivers age 55 and older. Subjects must be living with and caring for the stroke survivor, and the stroke must have been a first-ever stroke, occurring 6-36 months before enrollment.

Subjects complete questionnaires at baseline (Time 1) before randomization to the treatment or comparison group. Treatment group subjects receive written materials related to self-care and health promotion for use during the TALK sessions. Self-Care TALK is implemented through 6 weekly telephone sessions with advanced practice nurses. Sessions focus on several self-care topics, including: healthy habits, building self-esteem, focusing on the positive, avoiding role overload, communicating, and building meaning. Basic content is structured, but conversations are individualized with regard to each person's environment, abilities, and activities.

All subjects complete questionnaires again at 8 weeks (Time 2), and 24 weeks (Time 3) after baseline. Data will be analyzed using linear mixed modeling and linear regression to determine the effect of participation in Self-Care TALK on the outcome variables. Treatment group subjects are hypothesized to have lower caregiving strain, higher perceived health, well-being, and self-efficacy related to health, and less depressive symptomatology than comparison group subjects. Promoting healthy outcomes for stroke caregivers is essential to fostering ability for continued home care of stroke survivors. Comparison group subjects receive written materials related to self-care and health promotion post Time 3.

Conditions
Caregiving
Being tested
Self Care Talk
Keywords
SELF Care Talk, stroke, caregivers, Caregiving as experienced by older adults caring for a spouse/partner with a first-ever stroke
Medical subject headings
Stroke

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Self Care TalkBehavioural

    6 weekly telephone sessions

Study groups in NCT00646217
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
1ExperimentalSELF CARE Talk
Receives: Behavioral: Self Care Talk
2No interventionComparison Group

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. SF-36v2, PCS (perceived physical health) SF-36v2, MCS (perceived mental health)

    Measured: 2 months and 6 months post enrollment

Secondary outcomes (1)
  1. M-CSI: modified (caregiver strain),SRAHP (self efficacy for health), CED-D (depression)

    Measured: 2 and 6 months post enrollment

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted28 Mar 2008 (estimated)
  2. Study startJul 2005
  3. Primary completionMar 2008
  4. Study completionFeb 2010

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Parallel groups
Masking
None (open label)
Enrolment
39 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT00646217
Sponsor's protocol ID
05555585Z
Status last verified
Nov 2016
First submitted
25 Mar 2008
Last updated
28 Nov 2016
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Self Care Talk in people with Caregiving, run by University of Kansas Medical Center at 1 site in United States.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 5 inclusion and 0 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 28 Nov 2016. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

SF-36v2, PCS (perceived physical health) SF-36v2, MCS (perceived mental health) (time frame: 2 months and 6 months post enrollment). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 28 Nov 2016.

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