Long-Term Effects of Telephone-Based Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention for Family Caregivers of People With Dementia: Findings at 3-Year Follow-Up

Introduction: Long-term outcomes are of particular importance in evaluating interventions for family caregivers of people with dementia (PwD). So far, evidence for long-term effects (>6 months postintervention) is limited to four interventions. Objective: We examined the long-term effects of Tele.TAnDem, a telephone-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) intervention, on a variety of outcomes at 3-year follow-up, the longest follow-up of any intervention study for caregivers of PwD (without continuous support). Methods: Caregivers of PwD were randomly assigned to receive Tele.TAnDem consisting of 12 sessions over 6 months (intervention group [IG]) or usual care (control group [CG]). At 3-year follow-up (i.e., 2.5 years postintervention), 29 caregivers in the IG and 22 caregivers in the CG were still caring at home for a PwD. Results: Caregivers in the IG reported significantly lower caregiver burden and higher quality of life regarding social relationships. Conclusions: Tele.TAnDem is successful in buffering detrimental effects of caregiving on caregiver burden and social relationships in the long term. The small- to medium-sized effects lie in the range of effect sizes reported in the few previous investigations. The findings add to the scant evidence that interventions yielding long-term outcomes have to date mostly been multicomponent interventions based on CBT principles with structured techniques and at least seven sessions over more than 2 months. Public Health Significance Statement Evidence for long-term effects of interventions for family caregivers of people with dementia is limited to four interventions. This study suggests that Tele.TAnDem, a telephone-based cognitive-behavioral intervention, is successful in buffering detrimental effects of caregiving on caregiver burden, and quality of life regarding social relationships of family caregivers of people with dementia in the long term (i.e., 2.5 years after therapy). The findings add to the scant evidence that interventions yielding long-term outcomes have to date mostly been multicomponent interventions based on the principles of cognitive-behavioral therapy with structured techniques and at least seven sessions over more than 2 months.