Piloting a Dementia Caregiver Intervention in a Primary Care Setting.

The purpose of this pilot study is to examine the efficacy of a theoretically based, 6-week dementia caregiver support group in a primary care setting. Using a quasi-experimental design, 22 participants completed the caregiver support group. Participants were mostly in their mid-60 s ( Results revealed that participants demonstrated a significant increase in mean caregiver preparedness scores. No significant effects were found for caregiver strain, depressive symptoms, and distress related to neuropsychiatric symptoms. Participants rated being largely satisfied with the program. Results suggest that this 6-week caregiver support group may be a promising caregiver intervention in primary care clinics. Findings support the importance of caregiver support for persons with dementia in primary care.