Telephone Assessment and Skill-Building Intervention for Stroke Caregivers (TASKII)
Stroke, Family Caregivers

About this trial
This is an interventional supportive care trial for Stroke focused on measuring Stroke, Family Caregivers, Cerebrovascular Accident, Carers, Care Givers, Depression, Life change events, Family health, Quality of life, Cost, Intervention studies, Clinical trial
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
- Primary caregiver (unpaid family member or significant other) of a stroke survivor
- No more than 8 weeks after survivor discharged home
- Plans to be providing care for 1 year or longer
- Access to a telephone
- Willingness to participate in 9 calls from a nurse and 5 data collection interviews at designated study time points
Exclusion Criteria:
- Caregiver or survivor age < 21 years
- Caregiver denies that survivor has had a stroke
- Caregiver does not consider him or herself a caregiver, stating that the survivor is not impaired or is the same as before the stroke
- Caregiver has low task difficulty (OCBS task difficulty score < 16)
- Caregiver communication difficulties (e.g., hearing loss)
- Caregiver not fluent in the English language
- Caregiver 6-item MMSE score less than 4
- Survivor residing in a nursing home or long-term care facility
- Survivor or caregiver has a terminal illness (e.g., cancer, end of life condition with decreased life expectancy, renal failure requiring dialysis)
- Survivor or caregiver history of hospitalization for alcohol or drug abuse
- Survivor or caregiver history of severe mental illness (e.g., Alzheimer's, dementia, suicidal tendencies, severe untreated depression or manic depressive disorder, schizophrenia)
- Survivor or caregiver pregnancy
- Survivor or caregiver is a prisoner or on house arrest
Sites / Locations
- Indiana University School of Nursing
Arms of the Study
Arm 1
Arm 2
Experimental
Active Comparator
Telephone Assessment and Skill-Building Kit (TASK II)
Information, Support, and Referral (ISR)
The TASK II group will fill out a checklist about their needs and concerns, and will receive written tip sheets by mail that address the needs and concerns that they feel are most important. A nurse will call by telephone (lasting about 30 minutes or less) once a week for a total of 8 weeks, with another call at 12 weeks, to provide more information, answer questions, and to discuss more written tip sheets based on the caregiver's needs and concerns.
The ISR group will receive existing educational materials about stroke and caregiving developed by the American Stroke Association and weekly telephone calls by a nurse (lasting about 30 minutes or less) for a total of 8 weeks, with another call at 12 weeks.