Changes in Depressive Symptoms of Korean American Dementia Caregivers After Attending the Savvy Caregiver Program: Preliminary Findings with a Pilot Sample

Objectives: Language accommodation is indispensable in making evidence-based interventions available and accessible to ethnic minorities with limited English proficiency. As part of the larger effort to culturally adapt the Savvy Caregiver Program for Korean American dementia caregivers, we first conducted linguistic adaptation, and the present study reports the preliminary findings on participants’ changes in depressive Symptoms. Methods: The linguistically adapted program was delivered to two small groups of Korean American dementia caregivers (total n = 13) by two Savvy-certified Korean-speaking trainers. Participants’ depressive symptoms were assessed at three time points (pre-intervention, immediate post-intervention, and 6-month follow-up). Results: Following the intervention, participants exhibited lowered depressive symptoms (t = 8.64, p <.001, Cohen’s d =.89). This benefit was sustained at 6-month follow-up. Conclusions: Findings suggest that the therapeutic benefit of the Savvy Caregiver Program could potentially be shared with linguistic minorities when delivered in their native language. Clinical Implications: Although limited in its scope and nature, the pilot study with linguistic adaptation sheds light on efforts to close the gap in the evidence-based intervention delivery.