The Effect of Mindfulness Program on the Perceived Stress of Family Caregivers of Elderlies with Alzheimer's Disease

Care of people with Alzheimer’s disease is the most difficult type of care and can cause stress, fatigue and psychological disorders in caregivers. Therefore, it is necessary to take action to reduce stress on caregivers. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effect of mindfulness program on the perceived stress of caregivers of elderlies with Alzheimer’s disease referring to Iran Alzheimer’s Association.
This was a quasi-experimental study conducted on two control and intervention groups with before and after design. Sixty caregivers of elderlies with Alzheimer were selected by convenience sampling from patients in the Alzheimer's Association of Iran, in Tehran, in 2013 and then were randomly allocated to control and intervention groups. Mindfulness program sessions were performed for the intervention group for six weeks, two hours per session. Data were collected one week before and after the intervention using perceived stress scale (PSS). Data were analyzed by SPSS, independent t-test and paired t-test with significance level of P After the mindfulness program, the mean of perceived stress in the intervention group decreased from 33.30 ± 6.42 to 25.43 ± 5.26, which showed a significant decrease in caregivers’ stress levels (P 0.05).
Research finding indicated the efficacy of mindfulness program in reducing the stress of caregiver of elderlies with Alzheimer and offers its application to other caregivers’ chronic diseases.