NCT06605391

Caregiving While Black: LIVE

Caregiving While Black-LIVE: Empowering Black Dementia Caregivers to Navigate Care

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 40 (actual)
• Sponsor: Emory University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

This study will test the psychoeducation course, Caregiving while Black - Learning In Vital Engagement (LIVE), among Black caregivers providing care to persons with dementia. This course aims to enhance Black caregivers' capacity to cope effectively with their caregiving role of navigating care and the world of healthcare in ways that take into consideration the social and cultural context of their unique life experiences.

Detailed description

Black caregivers and their care recipients experience disparities in care, have lower rates of formal service use, and are generally under-treated. More specifically, disparities in healthcare quality include higher rates of missed or delayed dementia diagnoses among Black older adults and a lower likelihood of receiving dementia medication or care from a dementia specialist. Notably, disparities exist for caregivers of persons living with Alzheimer's disease and persons living with dementia (PLWD) as well: Black caregivers report more time spent in caregiving than do White caregivers and use less respite service. Black caregivers also report increased difficulties navigating the healthcare system. Further, racial differences and disparities related to caregiving experiences exist at alarming rates for use of supportive services (33% vs 25%), care hours (54% vs 39%), and living below the federal poverty level (32% vs 12%) among Black caregivers compared to White caregivers. Black families faced with dementia (Medicare beneficiaries) incur 1.7 times more in healthcare cost and higher proportions of preventable hospitalizations than White families. Among PLWD, Black older adults account for nearly a third of preventable hospitalizations. It should be noted that these disparities are not due to biological or genetic differences between racial or ethnic groups, as race and ethnicity are social constructs. Rather, it is more likely due to lived experience and structural racism leading to disparities in social and structural determinants of health. These amplified experiences highlight the importance of this proposal to further develop a course that addresses the cultural and practical reality of supporting a PLWD as a Black in America, as Black caregivers desire better access to culturally relevant caregiving and self-care information. One potential tool to mitigate the aforementioned health disparities is to offer an education tailored and responsive to the needs of Black caregivers. This project responds to a compound gap in psychoeducation aimed at promoting caregiving mastery. This study will test the psychoeducation course, Caregiving while Black - LIVE, among Black caregivers providing care to persons with dementia. The researchers will employ a mixed-methods pre-post no control design to gather formative and evaluative data from four cohorts (10 participants in each cohort) of Black caregivers. The course is self-paced and participants are asked to complete the course over an 8-week period.

Conditions

• Dementia

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Caregiving While Black-LIVE	Caregiving while Black-LIVE is a psychoeducation program that aims to intensify the development of caregiver mastery by integrating the online learning assets of the fully asynchronous Caregiving while Black program with synchronous, group-based opportunities for interactivity and active learning. The Caregiving while Black course includes topics of navigating the healthcare system, managing home life, and caregiver self-care. Once enrolled in the course, participants will be provided instructions for accessing the weekly sessions and course online, and supplemental course materials will be mailed to them. The Canvas platform enables the research team to monitor each individual's movement in the cohort through the asynchronous part of the course. Nudges and reminders to view these materials are sent twice a week via text or email with participant's consent. Synchronous sessions are conducted on a videoconferencing platform.

Timeline

• Start date: 2024-10-01
• Primary completion: 2025-08-12
• Completion: 2025-08-12
• First posted: 2024-09-20
• Last updated: 2025-09-23
• Results posted: 2025-09-23

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States