11/29/04 News Release

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STANFORD, Calif. – Earlier this year Yvonne Soares left her job as a fourth-grade teacher so she could care full-time for her sister, who has severe cerebral palsy. Soares, 55, spends her days helping her sister eat, changing her diapers and deciphering her gestures and facial expressions to guess what she needs.

“She is about two jobs in one,” said Soares, who took full-time responsibility for her sibling after growing dissatisfied with the job being done by home health-care aides. “It causes a lot of depression.”

Soares is one of the nation’s 22 million caregivers, who, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, are at higher risk than the general public of suffering from depression, getting sick or coming down with such chronic illnesses as heart disease.

In an effort to develop some form of relief for these beleaguered workers, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine are beginning to test whether telephone counseling can encourage caregivers to adopt healthier habits—regular exercise, nutritious diets and stress reduction techniques.

The study, which is funded by the National Institutes of Health, needs volunteers who are at least 45 years old and are caring for a friend or relative with a long-term illness.

Abby King, PhD, professor of health research and policy and of medicine and a senior researcher at the Stanford Prevention Research Center, explained why this group might benefit from some added support. “The problem is most caregivers are incredibly wonderful people who always put their loved ones’ needs first,” she said. “They tend to neglect their own health.”

Soares, for one, welcomed the chance to join the study. “I’ve gained so much weight,” she complained. “I used to be petite.” The caregiving has left her with little freedom to go away from home, and that weighs on her. When her mood turns gloomy, eating is an outlet. “I go for the comfort food, not the healthy food,” she said.

The study’s telephone care system—called Teaching Healthy Lifestyles for Caregivers—aims to improve caregivers’ health by providing regular encouragement and advice. Over the course of a year, volunteers will receive a series of 20-minute phone calls, at first every other week and later about once a month. In the phone conversations, a trained health educator will discuss balancing their own health with the demands of caregiving and how to schedule time for stress reduction, exercise and better nutrition.

In addition to the calls, participants will make two trips to Stanford, one at the beginning and one at the end of the yearlong study. The study will help to reimburse costs if participants need a substitute caregiver to cover for them at home during the visits.

The study continues the researchers’ work done in the late 1990s. That study, which focused on women caring for patients with dementia, found that a system of telephone calls could be helpful. The women who got calls spent 4.9 hours per week in physical activity compared with 2.9 hours for the women who didn’t get calls.

This time around, the researchers are also enrolling men, who can be difficult to recruit because they often don’t see themselves as caregivers, King said. And they’re broadening the study to include people like Soares who care for patients with illnesses other than dementia.

To qualify to be a participant in the study, you must spend at least 20 hours per week helping a friend or loved one. In addition to providing physical assistance, the care can include basic help around the house, driving the patient to appointments or helping with finances. Although each participant is involved for only one year, recruiting for the study will remain open for the next two years.

Those interested in volunteering may call (650) 723-9530 (select option 3) or visit http://healthyaging.stanford.edu.

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Stanford University Medical Center integrates research, medical education and patient care at its three institutions - Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. For more information, please visit the Office of Communication & Public Affairs site at http://mednews.stanford.edu/.