Northwestern University
Family caregivers of people living with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias often experience conflicts and communication challenges when coordinating care, making decisions, and interacting with family members and healthcare providers. These challenges can contribute to caregiver burden, stress, anxiety, and reduced well-being. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of NegotiAge, an online negotiation and communication training program designed for family caregivers. NegotiAge provides education and interactive practice exercises to help caregivers develop negotiation, problem-solving, conflict-resolution, and communication skills that can be applied to real-world caregiving situations. Approximately 200 family caregivers will be randomly assigned to either the NegotiAge intervention or an attention-control educational website. Participants will complete online surveys before the intervention, immediately after the intervention, and at 1-month and 3-month follow-up time-points. The study will examine whether NegotiAge reduces caregiver burden and improves communication, conflict-management behaviors, self-efficacy, stress, anxiety, fatigue, and well-being. Findings from this research may help improve support programs for family caregivers of people living with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.
Family caregivers of persons living with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) frequently encounter communication challenges and interpersonal conflicts while coordinating care, making healthcare decisions, advocating for care recipients, and interacting with family members and healthcare professionals. These challenges contribute to caregiver burden, stress, anxiety, and reduced quality of life. Effective communication and conflict-management skills may improve caregivers' ability to navigate complex caregiving situations and support better caregiver outcomes. NegotiAge is a web-b…
Inclusion Criteria: * Age 21 years or older * Self-identify as a family caregiver or unpaid care partner of a person with Alzheimer's disease, a related dementia, cognitive impairment, or memory loss. * Provide at least 2 hours per week of assistance, support, advocacy, healthcare coordination, or decision-making for the care recipient. * Able to read, understand, and communicate in English. * Able and willing to provide informed consent. * Have regular access to an internet-connected computer, tablet, or smartphone and be comfortable using web-based programs and surveys. * Willing to be rand…
NegotiAge is a self-paced, web-based negotiation and conflict-resolution training program designed for family caregivers of persons living with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. The intervention consists of educational modules and interactive scenario-based practice exercises that teach communication, negotiation, problem-solving, and conflict-management skills. Training content addresses common caregiving situations, including communication with persons living with dementia, disagreements among family members, healthcare decision-making, and interactions with healthcare providers and health systems. Participants access the intervention through a secure online platform and complete the training independently using a computer, tablet, or smartphone. Some practice exercises utilize automated conversational technology to provide standardized opportunities to practice negotiation and communication skills in simulated caregiving scenarios.
PlanYourLifespan (PYL) is a web-based educational planning resource that provides information and tools related to future healthcare needs, caregiving, memory loss, family communication, hospitalizations, and financial planning.