In the year 2002 family caregivers are expected to provide hundreds of thousands of hours of care for over 1.2 million people diagnosed with cancer in the United States. As a result of providing this care, family caregivers report difficulty initiating and maintaining sleep (insomnia), moderate to severe depressive symptoms, and poorer quality of life. While depressive symptoms are not unexpected among those caring for a family member diagnosed with a potentially life-threatening disease, these symptoms can become so severe that caregivers become """"""""patients"""""""" themselves and are forced to relinquish the caregiver role, resulting in institutionalization of the person with cancer. Many caregivers report that with a """"""""good night's sleep"""""""", coping with the challenges of providing care is improved, depressive symptoms are decreased and quality of life improves. Pharmacological therapies and standard behavioral sleep interventions are problematic for caregivers because of the overwhelming needs of the ill person. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to test a behavioral CAregiver Sleep Intervention (CASI) designed for and delivered in a manner that addresses the specific needs and sleep goals of family caregivers of persons with cancer.
The specific aims of this study are to: (1) explore the feasibility of the CAregiver Sleep Intervention (CASI) with family caregivers of persons with cancer; and (2) examine the effects of the CASI on sleep quality (PSQI and Actigraph), depressive symptoms (CESD) and quality of life (CQOLC) of caregivers of persons with cancer. Self report and physiological data will be collected from both intervention and control participants six times over a 4 month period (baseline, week 3, week 5, and at 2, 3, and 4 months post baseline). Caregivers receiving the CASI intervention will be asked for their perceptions of the value and usefulness of the intervention and suggestions for modifications in the intervention structure or content. The intervention effect will be computed using Cohen's effect size d. Data obtained from this pilot test of the intervention will be used to support the application for a full-scale trial of the proposed Caregiver Sleep Intervention (CASI).
| Carter, Patricia A; Mikan, Sabrina Q; Simpson, Cherie (2009) A feasibility study of a two-session home-based cognitive behavioral therapy-insomnia intervention for bereaved family caregivers. Palliat Support Care 7:197-206 |
| Carter, Patricia A (2006) A brief behavioral sleep intervention for family caregivers of persons with cancer. Cancer Nurs 29:95-103 |
