Integrative cognitive-behavioral and spiritual counseling for rural dementia caregivers with depression.

OBJECTIVE: Discuss initial evaluation of a program for training faith community nurses (FCNs) to conduct cognitive-behavioral and spiritual counseling (CBSC) for rural dementia caregivers (CGs), and present 2 case studies on the use of CBSC for treating depression in this population.

STUDY DESIGN: Pre-post evaluation of the effectiveness of CBSC training and a case study analysis of the effectiveness of CBSC on CG problem improvement and depression.

OUTCOME MEASURES: For FCN training, we used the FCN Counseling Comfort Scale, FCN Counseling Efficacy Scale, and the FCN Counseling Workshop Satisfaction Survey. The Problem Severity Scale and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale were used in the case studies.

RESULTS: Significant post-training increases in FCN counseling comfort and perceived counseling efficacy were obtained. Case study findings provided evidence of substantial improvement in caregiving problems and reductions in depression.

CONCLUSIONS: Preliminary outcomes of FCN training and CBSC for dementia CGs were promising. However, replication across the sample is required to evaluate the overall effectiveness of CBSC for reducing CG depression. Specific competencies and ethical considerations in supervising this form of intervention are also addressed.