Interventions for Rural Caregiver Health: An Integrative Review

Abstract

Few health behavior interventions exist for rural caregivers of persons with dementia (PWD) in the United States. Of interventions that have been studied, little is known about health outcomes that are included in interventions and which interventions are most effective on health outcomes. An integrative literature review of intervention studies for rural caregiver health throughout the United States was undertaken with an emphasis on concepts related to health promotion, self-management, self-care, and/or self-efficacy. Findings from this review indicated multicomponent interventions that included self-care strategies were associated with improvements of caregiver psychosocial health outcomes of depression, burden, self-efficacy, social support, and self-rated health. Sleep problems and endurance potential were the only physical health outcomes measured. To prevent adverse physical health outcomes, interventions with attention to rural context are needed that emphasize health promotion with a focus on health behaviors and health outcome measurement in rural caregivers of PWD. [ Research in Gerontological Nursing, 15 (2), 101–108.]