Improving the health and well-being of community-dwelling caregivers of dementia sufferers: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial of structured meditation training.
Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.) February 1, 2014 Matthew J Leach, Andrew Francis, Tahereh Ziaian
This paper describes the design of a pilot randomized wait-list controlled trial testing whether a 13-hour Transcendental Meditation training program can improve psychological stress, quality of life, affect, and cognitive performance in community-dwelling dementia caregivers in metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia. Outcomes will be assessed at baseline, 12 weeks, and 24 weeks, with results expected in early 2014. The authors contend that if effective, TM could offer a simple, cost-effective strategy to help caregivers cope with the demanding role.