BACKGROUND: Caregivers manage complex demands with little support, contributing to significant psychological distress. Though caregiver-focused supportive care is scarce, this type of psychosocial support enhances well-being and caregiving ability. Given the caregiver support gap, we developed an online, self-directed intervention (Healthy Communication Practice) to reduce caregivers' distress by enhancing their online, clinical, and family communication skills. It was first developed for adult children of parents with blood cancer. We previously established the acceptability and feasibility of the intervention in partnership with Blood Cancer United (formerly The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society). AIM: This proof-of-concept analysis examined the impact of Healthy Communication Practice on adult-child caregivers' distress and secondary psychosocial outcomes. METHODS: Participants were adult-child caregivers of parents with blood cancer diagnosed at least 3 months prior and in treatment or completed treatment within a year. Outcomes were assessed pre-, immediate-post, and 3-month post-intervention using paired t-tests to analyze pre- and post-intervention differences. RESULTS: Participants (N = 55) were aged 18-59, mostly female (76%) and white (78%). Caregivers experienced reduced distress between pre-intervention and 3-month post completion as well as increased positive meaning associated with their caregiving role between pre-intervention to 3-month post completion. Communication skills in each care domain (online, clinical, and family communication) increased between pre- and 3-month post completion. CONCLUSIONS: Results provide proof-of-concept evidence that the Healthy Communication Practice can enhance caregivers' psychological well-being and caregiving communication skills. Results further demonstrate a sustainable, innovative communication-focused approach to providing caregiver-targeted supportive care that can also be widely disseminated, thus warranting further evaluation.
Fisher et al. (Fri,) studied this question.