Objective
To determine if a telephone-based, individualized mentored problem-solving and education intervention improves quality of life and emotional well-being of caregivers of persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Design
Randomized controlled trial with blinded follow-up assessment at 6 months.
Setting
General community.
Participants
Caregivers of persons with moderate to severe TBI who received acute and/or rehabilitation care at a Level I trauma center.Caregivers were randomly assigned to intervention or usual care.
Interventions
Individualized mentored problem-solving and education focused on caregivers’ primary concerns delivered via 7-10 telephone calls at 2-week intervals after discharge of the TBI survivor to the community.
Main Outcome Measure(s)
Caregiver quality of life and emotional well-being were assessed with a composite of the Bakas Caregiving Outcomes Scale (BCOS) and the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI-18).Secondary measures included the Brief COPE.
Results
153 caregivers (mean age 49.7; 82% female; 54% spouses/partners, 35% parents) were enrolled with 125 (82%) assessed at 6 months. Caregivers in the treatment arm endorsed better quality of life and emotional well-being on the BCOS-BSI-18 composite score (p=.032) with more active coping (p=.020) and less emotional venting (p=.028) on the Brief COPE.They also reported receiving more assistance from others, more success in gaining information from health care providers, and feeling better able to care for themselves.
Conclusions
An individualized mentored problem-solving and education approach delivered via telephone in the first few months after TBI survivor community discharge resulted in better quality of life/emotional well-being for caregivers. Consideration should be given to using this approach to augment the support typically offered caregivers.
Key Words
Telemedicine, Brain Injuries, Caregivers, Problem Solving, Randomized controlled trial
Disclosure(s)
None Disclosed.
Article Info
Publication History
Poster 179
Identification
Copyright
© 2014 Published by Elsevier Inc.
