Abstract
To prevent caregivers from the development of stress related health impairments, effective interventions are still needed. This presentation focused on the evaluation of a telephone intervention for family caregivers of people with dementia in Germany. The individual intervention (12 sessions in 6 months, each 50 minutes) uses cognitive-behavioural therapy adapted to specific problems of the caregivers. The intervention aims to improve well-being, quality of life and to reduce body complaints and depressive symptoms. A randomized controlled trial (N = 322 primary family caregivers) was conducted and the intervention was implemented by cognitive-behavioural therapists. Compared with caregivers in the control condition, caregivers who received Tele.TAnDem demonstrated significantly greater improvements in well-being, depressive symptoms (CES-D), body complaints (GBB-24) and quality of life (WHO-Qol-Bref) at post treatment measurement. Regarding the achievement of caregivers individual goals, results showed that 77% achieved complete goal attainment. Findings support the acceptability and effectiveness of the Tele.TAnDem intervention.