NCT04944420

Health enSuite Caregivers: an App-based Treatment for Distressed Caregivers of Persons With Moderate Dementia

Evaluating an App-based Treatment for Distressed Caregivers of Persons With Moderate Dementia: Health enSuite Caregivers Study

• Status: Not Yet Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 400 (estimated)
• Sponsor: IWK Health Centre · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Health enSuite Caregivers is an e-health program designed to meet some of the most common needs of caregivers of persons with dementia, including information about dementia and dementia care, caregivers' emotional health, formal or informal help received from others. It also recommends specific strategies to promote wellbeing and provides tools to help caregivers implement these strategies in their everyday lives. Health enSuite Caregivers is available online and as a smartphone app. Its development was informed by reviews of caregivers' needs and existing commercially available apps F. A systematic search of commercially available smartphone applications for caregivers found that many apps did not consider each caregiver's unique needs and were limited to psychoeducational content (no tools for self-management). Furthermore, most existing programs have not been rigorously tested or lack evidence to support their effectiveness.

Detailed description

As the Canadian population ages, the demand for informal caregivers is expected to increase. Currently, an estimated 8 million Canadians provide unpaid assistance and ongoing care to family members and friends in need of support due to physical, cognitive, or mental health conditions. Challenges associated with being an informal caregiver vary based on a number of factors including how much time is involved, the health of the person being cared for, and the care needs. Although all caregivers may experience distress, caregivers of people with dementia are at especially high risk for psychological distress and poor health outcomes. Nearly half of the individuals who are providing care for someone with dementia experience symptoms of distress. It is important to provide caregivers with information and support so that they can manage these demands without compromising their own wellbeing. However, existing programs for caregivers are relatively limited. Primary care providers play an important role in supporting caregivers of people with dementia; however, there is a lack of effective, easily accessible programs for primary healthcare providers to recommend to a distressed caregiver of someone with dementia. We developed Health enSuite Caregivers as a potential solution to this problem.

Conditions

• Caregiver Burnout

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Health enSuite Caregivers	Advice within Health enSuite Caregivers is organized into 5 priority areas: Taking Care of Yourself (Self-care), Support for You (Support), Supporting the Person Living with Dementia (Characteristics of Persons Living with Dementia), Communication, and Time Management. Under "My Priority Areas", participants will see these in order from highest to lowest need, based on their answers to the needs assessment. Each priority area contains small subtopics and specific tips for things to "Try" or "Avoid". Navigation through the priority areas is user directed and at the participant's discretion. The goal is to make the information they need easy to access.

Timeline

• Start date: 2026-02-15
• Primary completion: 2027-01-15
• Completion: 2027-08-01
• First posted: 2021-06-29
• Last updated: 2026-01-27