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. 2018 Aug;33(5):301-308.
doi: 10.1177/1533317518769475. Epub 2018 Apr 16.

Intervention Helps Family Caregivers of People With Dementia Attain Own Therapy Goals

Gabriele Wilz  1 , Lisette Weise  1 , Christina Reiter  1 , Maren Reder  2 , Anna Machmer  2 , Renate Soellner  2
Affiliations

Intervention Helps Family Caregivers of People With Dementia Attain Own Therapy Goals

Gabriele Wilz et al. Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen. 2018 Aug.

Abstract

Introduction: Caregiver intervention studies typically assess whether participants attain general goals (eg, improved mental/physical health) but not their own individual goals. We used goal attainment scaling to evaluate whether participants of a telephone intervention based on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) attained their personal goals. We also evaluated treatment compliance and implementation.

Methods: A sample of 139 family caregivers of people with dementia received 12 telephone sessions over 6 months. Participants personal goals were specified during the first and second sessions. Participants and therapists assessed goal attainment at the end of the intervention.

Results: Nearly all participants reported meaningful improvements with regard to their personal goals. Specifically, 20.9% exceeded, 56.4% completely attained, and 21.8% partially attained at least one of their personal goals. There was high agreement between self- and therapist ratings. Treatment compliance and implementation were highly satisfactory.

Conclusions: The CBT telephone intervention successfully helped participants attain their personal goals.

Keywords: cognitive behavioral therapy; dementia; evaluation; family caregivers; goal attainment scaling; psychotherapy; telephone; treatment compliance.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Flow model of the study and present analysis.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Scale construction: goal attainment scale (GAS).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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