Alzheimer's Caregiver Coping: Mental and Physical Health

The burden of caring for a loved-one with Alzheimer's disease is associated with adverse
psychological and general health consequences for the caregiver. These consequences including
risk for depression, cardiovascular disease, and earlier mortality. Because preliminary work
has demonstrated that an educational programs for caregivers reduce the negative affect
associated with caregiving, the investigators wish to determine whether improving mood can
also modify pathophysiological changes that have been linked to risk for developing
cardiovascular disease.

The investigators aims are to determine whether a 6-week Behavioral Activation (BA)
intervention, followed by 3 booster sessions over a period of 6 months, compared to an
Information-Support (IS) intervention will be associated with significant improvement in
indicators of vascular pathology, modification of psychobiological markers that have been
associated with cardiovascular parameters, and to determine whether improvements in
indicators of vascular parameters will be mediated by treatment related change in measures of
distress and markers of cardiovascular disease risk.

Inclusion Criteria:

- Aged 55 years or older.

- Providing in-home care to a spouse with dementia.

Exclusion Criteria:

- Taking Coumarin anticoagulants.

- Taking nitrates or niacin.

- Taking non-selective β-blockers.

- Glucocorticoid use in the 2 weeks prior to enrollment.

- Taking Aldomet or labetalol.

- Neither the caregiver nor Alzheimer's patient can be diagnosed with a terminal illness
with a life expectancy of less than 1 year

- Cognitive impairment

- Caregivers enrolled in another intervention study or receiving psychotherapy to
improve well-being or reduce distress

- Blood pressure >200/120 mm Hg