Mindfulness-based stress reduction for family caregivers of dementia patients
Research project
Quick facts
Director/PI: Principal Investigator Kathi Heffner (School of Nursing); Co-Investigator Silvia Sörensen (Warner School of Education and Human Development)
Collaborators: Jan Moynihan, Kathi Heffner, Silvia Sörensen,
Funding: National Institute on Aging and National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Overview
This study seeks to identify the role of mindfulness-based stress reduction training in enhancing adaptive immune responses and influenza infection in older dementia caregivers.
This project is led by Jan Moynihan, a psychoneuroimmunologist in the Department of Psychiatry. It addresses the developmental issues faced by older adults who care for a loved one with dementia. Older dementia caregivers are offered either an eight-week course designed to teach subjects how to develop their inner resources in the service of taking better care of themselves, or an eight-week “Living Well” class. Mindfulness-based stress training includes the learning and refining of a range of skills aimed at increasing relaxation and awareness of physical experiences and sensations related to physical symptoms, emotions and thoughts. As co-investigator, Silvia Sörensen contributes her expertise in caregiver interventions and her experience with community outreach to this project.