Online support for family caregivers of people with dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs and quasi-experimental studies.

Online support for family caregivers of people with dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs and quasi-experimental studies. Aging Ment Health. 2020 May 02;:1-16 Authors: Etxeberria I, Salaberria K, Gorostiaga A Abstract Online interventions focused on mitigating the negative impact of care on family caregivers of people with dementia have become increasingly popular recently. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to analyze the effectiveness of these online support programs and to assess whether they do indeed enhance participants' wellbeing. A systematic literature search of 5 scientific databases was performed: PubMed, PsycInfo, CINAHL, Web of Science and Cochrane Library. Online interventions published between January 2014 and July 2018 targeted at informal family caregivers of people with dementia living at home were systemically reviewed. A total of 10 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) or studies with quasi-experimental designs were found. The characteristics of the interventions varied widely, as did their duration and results. In general, the effect size found was medium-small, despite the high methodological quality of the studies. The results reveal that online support interventions are a valid resource for improving caregivers' psychological wellbeing, including depression, anxiety, burden and caregiving competence. The best results were found for multi-component interventions: psychoeduc...
Source: Aging and Mental Health - Category: Geriatrics Authors: Tags: Aging Ment Health Source Type: research