Background

Caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s disease often overlook their own health, especially their stress levels. This is particularly true for African American women, who are at higher risk for high blood pressure. Ongoing stress from caregiving and high blood pressure increases the risk of heart disease. It’s important to address stress to improve caregivers’ quality of life and promote healthier blood pressure management.

Objective

This pilot study aims to test how feasible and acceptable it is to use the Mindfulness in Motion (MIM) program along with the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet for caregivers. We want to see how these methods can help reduce stress and improve quality of life for caregivers. We will also look at how stress affects self-care habits.

Methods

This study will involve a small group of 28 African American or Black female caregivers, aged 40 and over, who have high blood pressure and are taking medication for it. They will be randomly divided into two groups: one will participate in the MIM DASH program and the other will receive training from the Alzheimer’s Association as a control group. The interventions will be delivered online over 8 weeks, with follow-up calls for 9 months to support their ongoing learning.

Results

The study was approved in 2022, and data collection started in January 2023. Preliminary results show that the average age of participants is 62.4 years, with an average blood pressure reading of 128/79 mm Hg. Participants found the MIM DASH program acceptable and attended an average of 6.3 sessions, compared to 4.9 sessions for the control group.

Conclusions

The findings indicate that the MIM DASH program is a feasible option for African American women with high blood pressure who are caring for family members with Alzheimer’s disease. These results will help design a larger study to further evaluate the effectiveness and wider application of this intervention.

Next Steps

Based on the trial data, we can identify measurable outcomes and set clear goals for clinics and patients in managing stress and hypertension among caregivers. We also recommend selecting AI tools tailored to support the specific needs of caregiving and health management.