Staff from the Middle Alabama Area Agency on Aging will be trained to implement components of the REACH II intervention, one of the most highly effective and widely tested interventions for family caregivers. This intervention will be compared with a group of caregivers receiving educational pamphlets and check-in phone calls. These caregivers will receive the full intervention at a later time. The ultimate goal in Alabama is to make REACH interventions available in every community through the state network of Area Agencies on Aging. Dr. Louis Burgio, one of the original REACH II investigators and Director of the Center for Mental Health and Aging (CMHA) at the University of Alabama, will assist with implementation of the program.

Intervention Delivered by

Delivered where

Care Recipient Profile

Caregiver Profile

Number of participants

• 60 dementia patients / 60 caregivers; 30 dyads in each of the two groups

• 1 dedicated staff member

Intervention Strategies

• Education and skills training on Alzheimer’s Disease

• Caregiver health

• Home Safety

• Behavior management

• Stress management

Comparison Intervention includes:

• Brief educational pamphlets covering the 5 REACH topics explained in a one-hour, in-home session by AA case manager
• Three check-in phone calls

Academic/technical assistance provided

University of Alabama CMHA staff will provide modified REACH II training and on-going consultation to the AAA staff member.

Principal Investigator: Dr. Louis Burgio

Investigator's Web Site

Site Contacts
Carolyn Fortner
Leila Heptinstall
Jacque Easterling

Agency Website

Project Update - March 24, 2008

The Middle Alabama AAA received a letter recently from one of the dementia caregivers in our program. In the letter, she expressed appreciation for the relief she has experienced as a result of her participation in the program.

This joyful letter was in sharp contrast to an earlier letter written to us by the same caregiver. Months ago, this caregiver wrote requesting services and describing the stress she experienced due to her caregiving role.

All of the staff members working on this project love receiving letters like this. While research data has proven the effectiveness of REACH II in easing burden for caregivers, it is still nice to get first-hand accounts from the caregivers about how the program is impacting their lives.

Read this caregiver's letters.