Supporting Care Partners in Dementia with Problem-Solving Training: Application and Cultural Adaptation

Wednesday, November 9, 2022

10:45 AM – 12:00 PM

Presenter(s)

Marlene Vega, PsyD

Assistant Professor
UT Southwestern Medical Center
Dallas, Texas, United States
Chung Lin (Novelle) Kew, PhD, CRC

Postdoctoral Fellow
Texas A&M University
Bryan, Texas, United States

Slides
Alexandra B. Holland, LMSW

Psychological Associate I
UT Southwestern
Plano, Texas, United States

Slides
Maria C. Boix Braga, PhD

Rehabilitation and Neuropsychology Fellow
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Dallas, Texas, United States
Shannon B. Juengst, PhD, CRC

Clinical Investigator and Adjunct Associate Professor
TIRR Memorial Hermann
Houston, Texas, United States

In this symposium, we discuss unique challenges faced by care partners of adults with neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD), and how Problem-Solving Training (PST), and its Spanish-language counterpart Descubriendo Soluciones Juntos (DSJ), addresses care partner needs. We describe how we translated and adapted PST to DSJ for Spanish speaking Latinx care partners and present results from our initial pilot study of DSJ. We then present the design and preliminary data from our optimization trial (CaDeS) in which we aim to identify the best combination of PST/DSJ sessions and booster sessions. Results from this trial will establish guidelines needed for an evidence-based, culturally-adapted, and implementable problem-solving intervention to reduce care partner strain and improve care partners’ health, ability to balance meaningful life roles, and well-being.

Learning Objectives:

explain at least three unmet needs of care partners with neurological conditions.
discuss how Problem-Solving Training (PST) addresses unmet care partner needs.
compare important components of cultural adaptation for behavioral health interventions.
describe the importance of optimization trials for implementation.