An app-based just-in-time-adaptive self-management intervention for care partners: The CareQOL feasibility pilot study.

PURPOSE/

OBJECTIVE

The primary objective of this study was to establish the feasibility and acceptability of an intensive data collection protocol that involves the delivery of a personalized just-in-time adaptive intervention (JITAI) in three distinct groups of care partners (care partners of persons with spinal cord injury [SCI], Huntington's disease [HD], or hematopoietic cell transplantation [HCT]).

RESEARCH METHOD/

DESIGN

Seventy care partners were enrolled in this study (n = 19 SCI; n = 21 HD, n = 30 HCT). This three-month (90 day) randomized control trial involved wearing a Fitbit to track sleep and steps, providing daily reports of health-related quality of life (HRQOL), and completing end of month HRQOL surveys. Care partners in the JITAI group also received personalized pushes (i.e., text-based phone notifications that include brief tips or suggestions for improving self-care). At the end of three-months, care partners in both groups completed a feasibility and acceptability questionnaire.

RESULTS

Most (98.6%) care partners completed the study, average compliance was 88% for daily HRQOL surveys, 96% for daily steps, and 85% for daily sleep (from wearing the Fitbit), and all monthly surveys were completed with the exception of one missed 3-month assessment. The acceptability of the protocol was high; ratings exceeded 80% agreement for the different elements of the study. Improvements were seen for the majority of the HRQOL measures. There was no evidence of measurement reactivity.

CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS: Findings provide strong support for the acceptability and feasibility of an intensive data collection protocol that involved the administration of a JITAI. Although this trial was not powered to establish efficacy, findings indicated improvements across a variety of different HRQOL measures (~1/3 of which were statistically significant). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).