Study Protocol for Implementation of An Internet-based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Promoting Mental Health Among Migrant Live-in Caregivers in Canada (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Po-Lun Fung ◽  
Mandana Vahabi ◽  
Masoomeh Moosapoor ◽  
Abdolreza Akbarian ◽  
Josephine Pui-Hing Wong
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Acceptance And Commitment Therapy ◽  
Psychological Intervention ◽  
Self Care ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Virtual Space ◽  
Commitment Therapy ◽  
Acceptance And Commitment

BACKGROUND Psychological distress, isolation, feeling of powerlessness, and limited social support are realities faced by temporary migrant live–in caregivers in Canada. Furthermore, they experience multiple barriers in accessing mental health services due to their long work hours, limited knowledge about health resources, precarious employment, and immigration status. OBJECTIVE Women Empowerment - Caregiver Acceptance & Resilience E-Learning (WE2CARE) project is a pilot intervention research project that aims to promote mental well being and resiliency of migrant live-in caregivers. The objectives include exploring the effectiveness of this program in: (1) reducing psychological distress (depression, anxiety, and stress); (2) promoting committed actions of self-care; and (3) building mutual support social networks. Further, participants’ satisfaction with the intervention and their perceived barriers and facilitators to practicing the self-care strategies embedded in WE2CARE will be examined. METHODS Thirty-six live- in caregivers residing in Great Toronto Area (GTA) will be recruited and randomly assigned to intervention and waitlist control groups. The intervention group will receive a 6-week web-based psychosocial intervention that will be based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Standardized self-reported surveys will be administered online pre-, post-, and 6-week post-intervention to assess mental distress (DASS 21), psychological flexibility (AAQ-2), mindfulness (CAMS-R) and Multi-System Model of Resilience (MSMR-I). Two focus groups will be held with a subset of participants to explore their feedback on the utility of the WE2CARE program. RESULTS WE2CARE was funded in January 2019 for a year. The protocol was approved by the research ethics boards of Ryerson University (REB 2019-036) in February 2019, and University of Toronto (RIS37623) in May 2019. Data collection started upon ethics approval and was completed by May 2020. A total of 29 caregivers completed the study and 20 participated in the focus groups. Data analyses are in progress and results will be published in 2021. CONCLUSIONS WE2CARE can be a promising approach in reducing stress, promoting resilience, and providing a virtual space for peer emotional support and collaborative learning among socially isolated and marginalized women. The results of this pilot study will inform the adaptation and utility of online delivery of ACT based psychological intervention in promoting mental health among disadvantaged and vulnerable populations. CLINICALTRIAL None

A Pilot Trial of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Promoting Mental Health and Resiliency Among Migrant Live-in Caregivers in Canada (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mandana Vahabi ◽  
Josephine Pui-Hing Wong ◽  
Masoomeh Moosapoor ◽  
Abdolreza Akbarian, ◽  
Kenneth Po-Lun Fung
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Acceptance And Commitment Therapy ◽  
Psychological Intervention ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Waitlist Control ◽  
Commitment Therapy ◽  
Acceptance And Commitment ◽  
The Impact

BACKGROUND TTemporary migrant live–in caregivers constitute a vulnerable stream of temporary foreign workers in Canada. This is because the majority are racialized women from the Global South, the gendered nature of caregiving work has historically been undervalued, and their working and living spheres are intertwined which makes application of labor laws and surveillance almost impossible. Their invisible position in the fabric of Canadian society along with their precarious employment and immigration status place their mental health at jeopardy. Furthermore, they experience multiple barriers in accessing mental health services due to their long work hours, limited knowledge about health resources, stigma, and fear of deportation should their employers suspect or discover that they are experiencing mental health problems. There is a paucity of research about psychological support for this population. OBJECTIVE Our pilot project aimed to assess the efficacy of a six-week online delivery of a psychological intervention based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). METHODS A pilot randomized waitlist control design was used. Participants were recruited by two community peer champions, who collaborated with community health organizations serving migrant live-in caregivers and applied snowball sampling technique. A total of 36 participants who met study inclusion criteria were recruited and randomly assigned to the intervention and waitlist control groups. Standardized self-reported surveys were administered online pre-, post-, and 6-week post-intervention to assess mental distress (DASS 21), psychological flexibility (AAQ-2), mindfulness (CAMS-R) and Multi-System Model of Resilience (MSMR-I). Both independent and dependent t-tests were used to compare study outcomes at pre, post and 6 weeks follow up across and within both arms of the study. Linear mixed-effects models were created for each outcome of interest from baseline to post-intervention among intervention and control participants. Self-reported impact of WE2CARE intervention was examined using independent t-test across the study arms. RESULTS Average age of participants was 38 years. Many participants were born in the Philippines (79%). Sixty percent reported an income of less than $25,000/year after taxes. The pilot data on the impact of the psychological intervention showed an improvement in psychological distress, mindful qualities (CAMS-R), and external resilience (MSMR ER) particularly in the domain of life satisfaction and accessible support among the intervention group compared to control group. CONCLUSIONS WE2CARE is among the first studies exploring the efficacy of on-line delivery of ACT in addressing mental health challenges among live-in caregivers. While there are increased web-based ACT interventions, few uses group videoconferencing to promote peer connection and mutual support. WE2CARE showed promising results in reducing psychological distress and promoting mindfulness and resiliency. The intervention highly motivated participants to engage collectively in building social support networks. CLINICALTRIAL Not Applicable INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT RR2-10.2196/preprints.31211

scholarly journals Exploring Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for parents of preterm infants

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kayla Esser ◽  
Lesley Barreira ◽  
Doug Miller ◽  
Paige Church ◽  
Nathalie Major ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Preterm Infants ◽  
Acceptance And Commitment Therapy ◽  
Neonatal Intensive Care ◽  
Psychological Flexibility ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Behavioural Therapy ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Commitment Therapy ◽  
Acceptance And Commitment

Abstract The start of a parenting journey in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) presents many stressors to parents. Previous research has shown parents of infants admitted to the NICU experience heightened stress, anxiety, and depression. Mental health support varies across Canadian NICUs with mixed results. One promising intervention that has not been explored in the NICU is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), a behavioural therapy that has had positive mental health-related outcomes in similar parental populations. ACT differs from previous mental health interventions such as traditional Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) as it involves mindfulness and acceptance to increase psychological flexibility. Increased psychological flexibility is linked to greater emotional well-being, a higher quality of life, and decreased stress, anxiety, and depression. There is a need for research investigating the utility of ACT in improving mental health outcomes for parents of preterm infants.

Understanding and promoting students’ well-being and performance in university studies – effects of a 7-week Acceptance and Commitment Therapy based course (Preprint)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henna Asikainen ◽  
Nina Katajavuori ◽  
Kirsikka Kaipainen
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
University Students ◽  
Acceptance And Commitment Therapy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Pharmacy Students ◽  
Reflective Journal ◽  
Reflective Journals ◽  
Commitment Therapy ◽  
Acceptance And Commitment ◽  
And Performance

BACKGROUND Internationally there have been many studies showing that the number of university students suffering from mental illness is growing and this problem should be addressed OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to examine 41 pharmacy students’ experiences of a small Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) -based intervention that was implemented as a 7-week course with weekly online modules. METHODS Students’ well-being, experiences of stress, organised studying and psychological flexibility were measured with questionnaires at the beginning and end of the course. Students’ experiences of the effectiveness of the course and were analysed from open-ended responses and a reflective journal. RESULTS The results show that students’ well-being and ability to manage time and effort increased during the course(p≤0.003). In their reflective journals, students described how their ability to manage stress in their studies, cope with their thoughts and feelings, focus on the things that are more important to them, and manage their time in studying and their well-being had improved. CONCLUSIONS This study showed that it is possible to foster students’ well-being in their studies. More research is needed to identify the long-lasting effects of these kind of interventions.

scholarly journals Acceptance Commitment Therapy Intervention for Custodial Grandfamilies

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 928-928
Author(s):  
Manuela E Faulhaber ◽  
Amie Zarling ◽  
Jeongeun Lee
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Acceptance Commitment Therapy ◽  
Self Confidence ◽  
Commitment Therapy ◽  
Acceptance And Commitment ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Biological Parents ◽  
American Children

Abstract Millions of American children under the age of 18 are being cared for by their grandparents and without the presence of the biological parents. The number of custodial grandfamilies has significantly increased over the last five years. Recent studies have shown that custodial grandparents (CPGs) are often facing specific challenges in life, such as lower emotional well-being, higher parenting burden and stress related to this unique situation. Despite these findings, few interventions take a strengths based approach to improve their mental health and resilience. We describe our efforts to address these issues by proposing intervention anchored in the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), emphasizing the importance of acceptance of challenging circumstances outside of one’s control and promoting resilience among participants. The program consists of a web based ACT program with online coaching meetings, six common core sessions and six separate sessions for each age group over a time period of six months. This program is unique in the sense that it utilizes both individual and group session techniques to facilitate the learning process. Main active ingredients of this program are to promote effective coping strategies, to reduce parenting stress among grandparents and to increase life skills (i.e., decision-making, proactivity) among grandchildren. We are hypothesizing that participating in the ACT program will help CGPs to improve self-efficacy, emotional well-being, higher self-confidence, social competence, lower depressive symptoms, and parenting distress, thereby leading to positive outcomes such as improved mental health and higher resilience.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document