• Franziska Meichsner and Gabriele Wilz.
• a Department of Counseling and Clinical Psychology, Institute of Psychology , Friedrich Schiller University Jena , Jena , Germany.
• Aging Ment Health. 2018 Feb 1; 22 (2): 218-225.

ObjectivesPre-death grief plays a significant role in dementia caregiving, and has adverse impacts on caregivers. It was the purpose of the present study to examine whether a cognitive-behavioral intervention including a grief intervention module could increase caregivers' coping with pre-death grief and whether these effects could be maintained as of a six-month follow-up assessment.MethodIn a randomized-controlled trial examining the effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioral intervention, 273 caregivers were allocated to either an intervention or control group. Intervention group participants received 12 therapy sessions over six months; all participants completed a measure of pre-death grief. The analysis was conducted using latent change models. In the first model, study group was included as a predictor of change in pre-death grief; subsequent models also included care situation and sociodemographic variables.ResultsThe burden due to pre-death grief was reduced for intervention but not control group participants at the time of the six-month follow-up assessment (Cohen's d = -0.361). When controlling for changes in the care situation and sociodemographic variables, the treatment effect was also found in the assessment completed post intervention (Cohen's d = -0.248).ConclusionResults indicate that a cognitive-behavioral intervention including grief-specific strategies can successfully foster caregivers' coping with loss and reduce burden of pre-death grief.

22 keywords...

hide…