Caregiving Networks Across Disease Context and the Life Course
Study Details
Study Description
Brief Summary
Background:
In the U.S., about 53 million informal, unpaid caregivers provide care to a person who is ill, is disabled, or has age-related loss of function. These caregivers may be adult children, spouses, parents, or others. The stress of providing long-term care affects caregivers health and well-being. Researchers want to learn more about this stress and its effects.
Objective:
To learn how the caregiving process affects the health and well-being of caregivers over time.
Eligibility:
Adults aged 18 years and older who are caregivers for a person with a chronic medical condition and who have already given consent to take part in other study activities.
Design:
Participants will be put in different groups. They will complete some or all of the following tasks over 1 year. They may repeat these tasks once a year for up to 5 years.
Participants will fill out 2 online surveys. One will ask about their health and their caregiving experience. The other will ask them to list people in their social network and their care recipient s social network who give them support.
Participants will have a 2-part phone interview. It will be audio recorded. In part 1, they will be asked about the people they listed in the survey. In part 2, they will be asked about their caregiving experience and events in the care recipient s life.
Participants may fill out a weeklong diary every 3 months. It will ask about their daily social activities, well-being, and stress levels. It will also ask about their thoughts and feelings about caregiving.
Participants may give a blood sample each year they are in the study.
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Condition or Disease | Intervention/Treatment | Phase |
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Detailed Description
Study Description: Caregivers will be invited to participate in surveys and interviews to assess their cognitions and emotions about caregiving, caregiving burden, and caregiving or support network systems during the life of the Care Recipient. This study will further investigate these same families during bereavement if and when that occurs, for those who opt-in to this component of the study. In addition, biomarkers will be evaluated in consenting individuals to assess genetic susceptibility to stress and stress-related dysregulations in the endocrine and immune systems.
Objectives: The primary objectives of this study are to investigate the natural history of family caregiver stress over time, providing opportunity to understand the social, psychological, behavioral, and biological factors that characterize caregivers response to long-term caregiving during the life and after death of a Care Recipient with a chronic medical condition.
Endpoints: To assess the change over time in terms of social, psychological, behavioral, and biological factors associated with caregiving.
Study Population: Participants will include caregivers, additional family members, and others involved in providing care and support to a Care Recipient with a chronic medical condition. The anticipated enrollment ceiling is approximately 450 families, potentially encompassing 2,250 participants. Adults ages 18 years and older will be recruited.
Description of Sites/Facilities Enrolling Participants: NIH CC
Study Duration: 10 years.
Participant Duration: 5 years.
Study Design
Arms and Interventions
Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
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Active Participants include individuals who are caregivers of an individual with a chronic medical condition, OR individuals who support caregivers of an individual with a chronic medical condition. |
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Bereaved Participants include individuals who were caregivers of an individual with a chronic medical condition who has died, OR individuals who support the caregiver. |
Outcome Measures
Primary Outcome Measures
- Natural History [Annually / quarterly]
Investigate the natural history of family caregiving to identify the social, psychological, behavioral, and biological mechanisms that determine possible long-term changes in health during the life and after death of a Care Recipient with a chronic medical condition.
Eligibility Criteria
Criteria
- INCLUSION CRITERIA:
To be eligible to participate in this study, an individual must meet all of the following criteria:
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Adults aged 18 years and older
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Self-identify as a formal or informal caregiver to the Care Recipient (individual with a chronic medical condition) OR is identified (i.e., referred) by a participant as a formal or informal caregiver to the Care Recipient OR is otherwise identified (i.e., referred) by a participant as a part of the caregiving network
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Ability to consent to research
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Fluency in English will be needed to complete interview as well as to read, comprehend surveys and consent forms, as appropriate validated measures in other languages are not readily available.
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Physically capable of participating in applicable assessments
EXCLUSION CRITERIA:
An individual who meets any of the following criteria will be excluded from this study:
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Care Recipients (as defined in this protocol)
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Staff of NHGRI
Staff of NHGRI are unable to participate in this study as a safeguard against the risk of ethical concerns. As per OHSRP SOP 404, NIH staff may be a vulnerable class of study subjects. Excluding staff of the Institute conducting the study assures there will not be any perceived or actual conflict of interest, pressure/coercion to participate among co-workers, subordinates, work unit-members, etc. As further noted in OHSRP SOP 404, exclusion further protects this class of subjects privacy and confidentiality; and protects the study s scientific integrity.
Persons with impaired neuro-sensory or decision-making ability (adults unable to provide consent) will not be enrolled in the study. Persons with impaired neuro-sensory or decision making ability would not be able to participate with independent responses to the various social behavioral measures we use in the study interview and survey. Learning information about these individuals through other people instead of themselves would introduce bias to this study.
Contacts and Locations
Locations
Site | City | State | Country | Postal Code | |
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1 | National Institutes of Health Clinical Center | Bethesda | Maryland | United States | 20892 |
Sponsors and Collaborators
- National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)
Investigators
- Principal Investigator: Laura M. Koehly, Ph.D., National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)
Study Documents (Full-Text)
None provided.More Information
Additional Information:
Publications
None provided.- 210020
- 21-HG-0020