Health education groups for caregivers in an HMO

The short-term effectiveness of a Health Education Group (HEP) intervention program for spouses of frail older adults was compared to the usual care (UC) offered to the spouses of frail older persons in a staff model health maintenance organization. HEP is a multicomponent group program offered in eight weekly, two-hour group sessions, and ten monthly, two-hour follow-up group sessions. It includes emotion-focused and problem-focused coping strategies, education, and support. One-hundred and five spouses were recruited and randomly assigned to HEP (n = 58) or UC (n = 47). Spouse caregivers and care recipients were assessed within two weeks of intervention and within two weeks after the completion of the eight weekly group meetings. The results indicate that, for caregivers, HEP was more effective than UC in reducing depression, maintaining social integration, increasing effectiveness in solving pressing problems, increasing knowledge of community services and how to access them, changing caregivers' feelings of competence, and the way they respond to the care giving situation. No significant differences, however, were found between care recipients in the two arms of the study on any of the outcome measures.