1 Approximately 6.5 million Americans aged 65 and older live with dementia, supported by more than 11 million 2 unpaid family caregivers. These numbers are projected to rise exponentially in the coming decades fueling the 3 need to develop scalable ways to support dementia caregivers. The need to empower dementia caregivers to 4 continue providing care while maintaining their own health and well-being is recognized in public health 5 literature and in Strategy 3.B of the National Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease. While effective caregiver 6 interventions exist, significant implementation barriers also exist. Many interventions have not been translated 7 for widespread use. Most require delivery by time-strapped healthcare professionals, which is problematic 8 given eldercare workforce shortages and medical delegation trends. The upshot is family caregivers are 9 typically left unsupported to determine ways to manage complex care while maintaining their own well-being. 10 One way to improve the capacity of dementia caregivers to manage caregiving responsibilities and bolster their 11 well-being is by pinpointing where they have control and where to focus efforts to attain their wishes or goals. A 12 brief, easy to learn 4-step intervention called Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan (WOOP) does just that. WOOP is 13 a strategy that helps individuals set challenging but attainable goals and focus on internal obstacles over which 14 they have control. This helps them persist in goal-directed behavior, improving the likelihood they will attain the 15 wish or goal. WOOP, known scientifically as Mental Contrasting with Implementation Intentions (MCII), has 16 been rigorously developed over 20 years, translated into multiple languages, and used effectively in more than 17 100 countries worldwide across multiple domains such as career achievement, health, and interpersonal 18 relations. Recent preliminary work demonstrated WOOP to be effective for dementia caregivers. In a 19 randomized controlled trial, dementia caregivers taught to use WOOP via in-person one-on-one sessions and 20 phone coaching experienced reduced stress, reduced depressive symptoms, and increased positive emotions 21 and quality of life. What remains unknown is whether tailoring WOOP for dementia caregivers and delivering it 22 to groups via novel technology is feasible and effective. In this effort, Borrow My Glasses, a gerontology 23 education company and woman owned small business teams with research institute Yale University and 24 consultants including the developer of WOOP, healthcare professionals, and others with lived experience as 25 dementia caregivers. SPECIFIC AIMS: This STTR Phase I proposal uses human centered design to AIM 1: 26 translate WOOP into a novel technology prototype tailored to the needs of dementia caregivers and test it for 27 usability. AIM 2: conduct iterative proof-of-concept testing to evaluate the appropriateness, acceptability, 28 feasibility, and perceived benefit of disseminating WOOP to groups of dementia caregivers via web-based e- 29 learning technology. Overall feasibility in Phase 1 will inform a randomized controlled trial in Phase 2 to further 30 tailor the design, strategy, and readiness to scale WOOP for Dementia Caregivers commercially.
Public Health Relevance Statement: Relevance Dementia caregivers experience substantial emotional, financial, and physical difficulties. Although there are many self-regulation interventions proven effective for reducing dementia caregivers' burden, very few have been positioned to be widely disseminated. This proposal aims to develop a novel technology prototype to deliver the Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan intervention for dementia caregivers so that is scalable. Terms: Achievement Attainment; Achievement; 21+ years old; Adult Human; adulthood; Adult; ages; Age; AD dementia; Alzheimer Type Dementia; Alzheimer disease dementia; Alzheimer sclerosis; Alzheimer syndrome; Alzheimer's; Alzheimers Dementia; Primary Senile Degenerative Dementia; primary degenerative dementia; senile dementia of the Alzheimer type; Alzheimer's Disease; Behavior; Books; Communities; E-learning; computer-assisted instruction; computer-based education; computer-based instruction; computer-based learning; computer-based training; digital education; digital learning; eLearning; electronic learning; internet-assisted education; internet-based training; multimedia learning; on-line education; on-line learning; online education; online learning; technology-enhanced learning; virtual learning; web-based instruction; web-based training; Education; Educational aspects; Glass; Goals; Health; Healthcare Systems; Health Care Systems; Interpersonal Relations; Interpersonal Interaction; interpersonal relationship; Language; Learning; Literature; Methods; Persons; Online Systems; On-Line Systems; online computer; web based; Personal Satisfaction; well-being; wellbeing; Psychologist; Public Health; Quality of life; QOL; Race; Races; racial; racial background; racial origin; Research; Research Design; Study Type; study design; Research Institute; Research Personnel; Investigators; Researchers; Role; social role; Public Health Schools; Informal Social Control; Self Regulation; Social Workers; Educational process of instructing; Teaching; Technology; Testing; Time; Translating; Universities; Woman; Work; Gender; Care Givers; Caregivers; Businesses; Emotional Depression; depression symptom; depressive; depressive symptoms; Family Care Giver; Family Caregiver; Managed Care; spousal care giver; spousal caregiver; spouse care giver; Spouse Caregiver; Caring; career; improved; Left; Site; Specified; Specific qualifier value; Phase; Medical; biogerontology; Gerontology; teacher; mental; Psyche structure; Individual; randomized control trial; Randomized, Controlled Trials; Life; Complex; Country; Dementia; Amentia; American; experience; human old age (65+); 65+ years old; Aged 65 and Over; age 65 and greater; age 65 and older; aged 65 and greater; aged â¥65; old age; empowerment; new technology; novel technologies; General Population; General Public; social; Positioning Attribute; Position; Emotional; Caregiver Burden; Burden on their caregivers; burden in caregivers; burden of their caregivers; burden on caregivers; Intervention; Intervention Strategies; interventional strategy; Institution; Effectiveness; Preparedness; Readiness; Address; Long-Term Care for Elderly; elder care; longterm care for elderly; Small Business Technology Transfer Research; STTR; trend; Modification; Development; developmental; Health Professional; Health Care Professional; Healthcare professional; Evidence based treatment; web site; website; care giving; caregiving; designing; design; positive emotion; positive emotional state; Outcome; Population; innovate; innovative; innovation; usability; implementation science; prototype; commercialization; Phase I Study; phase 1 study; care receiver; care recipients; caregivers for persons living with dementia; caregivers for persons with dementia; caregivers of individuals with dementia; caregivers of patients with dementia; dementia care giver; Dementia caregivers; Articulation; stress reduction; AD related dementia; ADRD; Alzheimer's and related dementias; Alzheimer's disease and related dementia; Alzheimer's disease and related disorders; Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia; Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder; Alzheimer's disease or related dementia; Alzheimer's disease related dementia; perception of stress; self-reported stress; stress perception; perceived stress; effectiveness testing; barriers to implementation; implementation challenges; implementation barriers; coaching calls; phone coach; telephone based coaching; telephone counseling; telephone coaching; human centered design
