NYU Caregiver Intervention (NYUCI) (Title III-D Program)

 

New York University Caregiver Intervention (NYUCI) is a counseling and support intervention for spouse caregivers to improve the well-being of caregivers and delay the nursing home placement of patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

 

The program also aims to help spouse caregivers mobilize their social support network and help them better adapt to their caregiving role. The program is delivered by counselors with advanced degrees in social work or allied professions.

NYUCI consists of four components:

1. Two individual counseling sessions

2. Four family counseling sessions with the primary caregiver and family members selected by that caregiver

3. Encouragement to participate in weekly, locally available support groups after participation in the intervention

4. Ad hoc counseling or counseling provided by telephone to caregivers and families whenever needed to help them deal with crises and/or the changing nature of their relatives/significant others symptoms.

 

• Program Goals:
• -Provide psychosocial counseling and support to improve the well-being of spousal caregiver of people with Alzheimer’s disease
• -Delay institutional placement of the care recipient into a nursing home

 

• Target Goals:
• -Family caregivers of people with dementia

 

• Program Description:
• -6 sessions of individual and family counseling, support group participation, and additional on-call telephone consultations in a flexible counseling approach that is tailored to each caregiving family.
• -Includes:
  • a) 2 individual counseling sessions of 1-3 hours tailored to each caregiver’s specific situation
  • b) 4 family counseling sessions with the primary caregiver and family members selected by that caregiver
  • c) Support group participation
  • d) Ad hoc counseling

 

• Program Delivery:
• -Counselors with advanced degrees in social work or allied professions

 

• Costs to Implement Program:
• http://www.rosalynncarter.org/caregiver_intervention_database/dimentia/nyu_caregiver_counseling_and_support_intervention/

Contact information

• Mary Mittelman, DrPH, Director of Psychosocial Research and Support Program, Silberstein Institute and Research Professor
• Department of Psychiatry, NYU School of Medicine
• 560 First Avenue
• Room THN 312C
• New York, NY 10016
• Phone: (212) 263-7560
• Fax: (212) 263-6991
• Website: http://www.rosalynncarter.org/caregiver_intervention_database/dimentia/nyu_caregiver_counseling_and_support_intervention/

Reference Material

• Drentea, P., Clay, O.J., Roth, D.L., & Mittelman, M.S. (2006). Predictors of improvement in social support: Five-year effects of a structured intervention for caregivers of spouses with Alzheimer’s disease. Social Science and Medicine, 63, 957- 967.

 

• Mittelman, M.S., Ferris, S.H., Steinberg ,G., Shulman, E., Mackell, J.A., Ambinder, A., et al. (1993). An intervention that delays institutionalization of Alzheimer’s disease patients: Treatment of spouse-caregivers. The Gerontologist, 33(6), 730-740.