The document discusses a proposed quantitative study on the effects of a psychosocial intervention on depression among caregivers of elderly people with dementia. The study would collect depression scale scores from 1,100 caregiver participants before and after receiving the intervention. The mean scores would be analyzed to compare changes in depression levels between groups and visually display trends over time. While the research is a first attempt, positive results could encourage promoting psychosocial interventions for caregivers given their lack of side effects compared to medications.

1. The topic: Effects of the psychosocial intervention on depression among caregivers of elderly people with dementia. --David Xu

2. Ⅰ. The reason for choosing this topic is that aging of population is a worldwide fact. The aging of population shows an upward tendency. Problems brought up by the aging of population are in front of researchers. “In the 10 years ended December 2009, the population aged 65–79 yeas grew at an average annual rate of 1.8 percent” (Statistics New Zealand, 2010).

3. A survey indicates there is a high prevalence of dementia among this elderly people. As a result, increasing assistants and care are required for these elderly people with dementia A disability survey of residential facilities, more than 50 percent of people over the age of 65 in residential care have trouble in remembering (Ministry of health, 2002)

4. However, a recent study indicates that social embarrassment, the health of the caregiver, the certainty of the dementia’s diagnosis, and the caregiver’s perceived duty to care all contribute to the caregiver’s level of depression (Rodriguez, Kosloski, Kercher, & Montgomery, 2009) .

5. The society has paid attention to depression among these caregivers. However, there is a controversy of the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions(Mittelman, Brodaty, Wallen, & Burns, 2008; Schoenmakers, Buntinx, & DeLepeleire, 2009). The controversy is worth to be further explored. This is my reason for choosing this research question.

6. Ⅱ. I choose quantitativemethodology for this research, because I was planning to measure the effectiveness of the psychosocial intervention to improve the depression among these caregivers. Quantitative research generates reliable population based and generalizable data, and is well suited to establishing cause-and-effect relationships (Anderson, 2006).

7. The numerical analysis has more force in the effectiveness of the intervention. In order to achieve these, I need to use quantitative research methodology. In addition, my research plan is based on a large number of previous works done by other researchers. So there is the condition to do a quantitative research.

8. Ⅲ. After the experiment, I will analyses the collected 1100 copies of CES-D (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale) questionnaire and 200 copies of HDRS (Hamilton Depression Rating Scale) questionnaire. The mean will be used in the analysis as the mean is the only way to measure the “typical” values of a variable (Babbie, 2010). I will compute the mean of CES-D scores/HDRS scores in each group and draw a comparison between each group in the following two methods:

9. 1. The mean of the CES-D scores in each week will be drawn on a chart. Scores are connected by a line. So the general tendency of the level of depression and the efficiency of the psychosocial intervention can be presented visually.

10. 2. Subtracting the mean of HDRS scores in the end of the study from that at the beginning of the study in each group. The higher the balance, the more effectiveness of the intervention will be. The effectiveness of the psychosocial interventions is examined in these ways.

11. Ⅳ. I don’t think my research will have a significant influence in the practice. After all, this is the first research plan I did. There are many areas I still need to improve. However, if the research shows psychosocial interventions is effective in improving symptoms of depression, then they should be encouraged and promoted in the community. Compared with medications, psychosocial interventions have fewer side effects.

12. References Anderson, J. (2006). Qualitative and quantitative research. Retrieved June 3, 2010, from http://www.icoe.org/webfm_send/1936 Babbie, E. (2010). The basics of social research (5th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth. Ministry of Health. (2002). Health of older people in New Zealand: A statistical reference. Retrieved May 16, 2010, from http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/f872666357c511eb4c25666d000c8888/34d13a943b5edc56cc256c2c000b78e3/$FILE/stat%20report%209.09.pdf Mittelman, M., Brodaty, H., Wallen, A., & Burns, A. (2008). A 3 country randomized controlled trial of a psychosocial intervention for caregivers combined with pharmacological treatment for patients with Alzheimer’s disease: Effect on caregiver depression. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry, 16(11), 893-904.

13. Rodriguez, J., Kosloski, K., Kercher, K., & Montgomery, R. (2009). The impact of social embarrassment on caregiving distress in a multicultural sample of caregivers. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 28(2), 195-217. Schoenmakers, B., Buntinx, F., & DeLepeleire, J. (2009). Supporting the dementia family caregiver: The effect of home care intervention on general well-being. Aging & Mental Health, 14(1), 44-56. Statistics New Zealand. (2010). National population estimated: December 2009 quarter. Retrieved May 16, 2010, from http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/population/estimates_and_projections/NationalPopulationEstimates_HOTPDec09qtr.aspx