Effects of modified 8-week reminiscence therapy on the older spouse caregivers of stroke survivors in Chinese communities: A randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE:Our aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of a modified 8-week reminiscence therapy on the burden, positive experience, and life satisfaction of older spouse caregivers and the life satisfaction of stroke survivors. METHODS:We conducted a randomized controlled trial by using 75 older stroke couples recruited from communities in Zhengzhou, China. We randomly assigned participants to 1 of 3 groups: Group 1 (G1 , 25 couples, all attend intervention) and Group 2 (G2 , 22 couples, only caregivers attend intervention), who participated in a modified 8-week reminiscence therapy, and a waiting list (control) group (G3 , 28 couples). Interviewers blinded to treatment group assignment administered the life satisfaction to both stroke survivors and caregivers, caregiver burden, and positive experience for caregivers, at preintervention, immediately postintervention, and at 1 month and 3 months after cessation of the intervention. RESULTS:We found a statistically significant interaction between treatment groups and assessment time points for the 4 outcome measures (P < .001). Although the effects were decreased after intervention at 1 month, the improvement in caregivers' positive experience, life satisfaction, burden, and life satisfaction of stroke survivors were still significant (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS:The use of a modified 8-week reminiscence therapy in this study sample improved the life satisfaction of stroke survivors and their spouse caregivers, improved the positive experience of caregivers, and decreased the burden of caregivers.