Evaluation of a program to train professionals to use the 3Cs program

• Grant number: 15/25081-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: July 01, 2016
• End date: February 28, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Psychological Treatment and Prevention
• Agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal Investigator: Elizabeth Joan Barham
• Grantee: Camila Rafael Ferreira Campos
• Host Institution: Centro de Educação e Ciências Humanas (CECH). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Researchers are red flagging the need to develop effective psychological services to help caregivers who are assisting an elderly relative with Alzheimer's disease (AD). The 3Cs Program includes the "best practice" components of previous interventions, together with new strategies that were adopted and tested, to develop the 3Cs Program (comprehend, cope, and cognitively stimulate), with the primary goal of reducing perceptions of burden among those who care for a relative with AD. The final version of the 3Cs program was evaluated in two small-scale studies, indicating positive results. However, a larger sample of caregivers is needed to confirm the results obtained so far, which requires the training of professionals who can offer this program. Thus, the objective of this study is to evaluate a program to capacitate people in the area of Psychology, to use the 3Cs Program. The training program will be offered to two groups, each with 10 participants (Np= 20). Each participant will use the 3Cs Program with two caregivers (Nc = 40). The training program will be evaluated with respect to: (a) program satisfaction, reflected in the participants' attendance levels, together with responses to an instrument to measure their "Reaction to the Course and the Instructor's Performance"; (b) the impacts of the theoretical module of the training program on the participants' learning, indicated by the participants' scores on "Knowledge Tests" (psychologists' version), in addition to evaluating their performance on hypothetical tests and simulation tasks; (c) impacts of the practical module, with respect to the participants' ability to correctly deliver the 3Cs Program, which will be determined by evaluating video footage of the participants working with the caregivers; (d) the gains obtained by the caregivers who participate in the 3Cs Program, in terms of their scores on the Zarit Burden, Ways of Coping questionnaire (short version), Knowledge Tests (caregiver version), Dyadic Relationship Scale (caregiver version), Problematic Behaviors Questionnaire, and the Perception of Impacts Questionnaire. To analyze the results, first, the distribution of the data for each variable will be examined (kurtosis, asymmetry, multiple modes, outliers, missing values), to establish whether to use parametric or non-parametric statistical procedures. Next, descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, minimum and maximum scores) will be employed to interpret the results obtained with instruments that yield only one measure (for example, satisfaction with the training program). Analyses to compare means for two dependent measures will be undertaken to compare results obtained before and after the training program. In addition, analyses to compare means for two independent groups will be used to verify if the results achieved by the caregivers are similar to the results reported in previous studies on the effects of the 3Cs Program. Finally, the results obtained using the two questionnaires that the caregivers complete will be analyzed using qualitative techniques. Thus, based on these analyses, it will be possible to: (a) determine whether the training program strategies were effective, to prepare professional in the area of Psychology to deliver the 3Cs Program, and, if so, (b) verify whether the effects of the 3Cs Program are maintained when the intervention is offered by people who were trained to deliver this program. This information will indicate whether we have sufficient expertise to prepare professionals who can reduce the perceptions of burden among caregivers who accompany elderly relatives with AD. (AU)