174 Benefits of a Self-Management Program for the Older Couple Living with Parkinson`s Disease: A Pilot Study (Age and Ageing)

AbstractBackgroundAlthough community-based self-management workshops have been found to benefit older adults with Parkinson`s disease (PD), it is unclear if there could be added value for the couple if the spouse also participated.MethodsA quasi-experimental two-wave design (0 and seven week follow-up) was used to explore the effects of a self-management program on the health and relational outcomes of older adults with PD and their spouses in comparison to a wait-list control condition. Thirty nine couples were enrolled and completed the study (19 in the intervention group and 20 in the wait-list control).ResultsAdjusting for baseline outcome values, spouses in the intervention group had significantly greater engagement in mental relaxation techniques (p < .001; d = 1.28) than those in the control condition at seven weeks. Additionally, moderate effect sizes were observed for increases in the mental relaxation (d = 0.44) and aerobic activity (d = 0.44) of older adults with PD and the strength-based activities of spouses (d = 0.33) in the intervention group. Small to moderate effects were observed for declines in the depressive symptoms of spouses (d = 0.29) and older adults with PD (d = 0.14) and care strain of spouses (d = 0.15) in the intervention group. Finally, perceptions of marital quality improved for older adults with PD (d = 0.46) and spouses (d = 0.41) and reports of protective buffering (i.e. hiding concerns) declined for older adults with PD (d = 0.24) and spouses (d = 0.33) in the intervention group compared to the wait-list control condition.ConclusionPreliminary data showed promise for self-management programs benefiting couples living with Parkinson`s disease. Although larger samples and randomized controlled trials are needed to establish the full benefit of such programs, greater attention to interventions for the older couple is warranted.