Mindful-compassion art therapy for dementia care (MCAT-DC): A waitlist RCT

Dementia is a neurodegenerative disease that leads to irreversible decline in one’s cognitive and functional capacity, identity, and personhood. In Singapore, the number of persons with dementia is expected to soar to 187,000 by 2050. Hence, it is imperative to render comprehensive support to dementia sufferers, and especially their family caregivers. While local initiatives have raised public awareness on and developed services for dementia care, they do not adequately address the psycho-socio-spiritual needs of family caregivers, as the stress of caregiving can greatly impede one’s mental and emotional health. International research for dementia family caregivers has thus focused on developing multicomponent interventions that accentuate holistic support to promote healthy and sustainable caregiving.  

This proposed 3-year study builds on the empirical foundation of Mindful-Compassion Art Therapy (MCAT) to test its efficacy as a multicomponent, holistic, psycho-socio-spiritual intervention for supporting dementia family caregivers. MCAT is a group-based intervention that integrates mindfulness meditation and art therapy, with reflective awareness complementing emotional expression, to foster self-compassion and inner-resilience among professional caregivers. Results from a randomized controlled trial (RCT) with end-of-life care workers revealed MCAT’s effectiveness for reducing burnout and promoting wellbeing to enrich caregiving.  

This study adopts a wait-list RCT design to refine and extend the application of MCAT to empower self-care and resilience among 102 dementia family caregivers recruited via TTSH, KTPH, ADA and other community-based dementia-care organizations. It aims to:

1. develop a disease-specific version of MCAT for Dementia Care (MCAT-DC);
2. assess MCAT-DC’s effectiveness in reducing perceived stress, caregiver burden, and psychological distress;
3. assess MCAT-DC’s effectiveness for enhancing caregivers’ resilience, hope, spirituality, quality-of-life and psychophysiological well-being; and
4. assess the feasibility and acceptability of a standardized MCAT-DC protocol for large-scale implementation.
   
   
   The expected outcomes will advance theory and practice for sustainable dementia family caregiving in Singapore and around the globe.