Mindful-Compassion Art-Based Therapy for Dementia Care (MCAT-DC): A multicomponent approach to enhancing resilience in dementia family caregivers.

Résumé

OBJECTIVE: Caring for a loved one with dementia imposes significant physical strain, emotional burden, and psychological trauma on family caregivers. Singaporean caregivers face added pressures under cultural norms that emphasize familial responsibility. While caregiving challenges are well documented, empirically validated interventions remain limited. Guided by the resilience portfolio model, this study evaluates the effectiveness of Mindful-Compassion Art-Based Therapy for Dementia Care (MCAT-DC), a standardized, 4-weekly group-based intervention of 2.5 hr each, designed to promote dementia caregiver resilience and healing. MCAT-DC integrates mindfulness, creative expression, and reflective awareness within a psycho-socio-spiritual framework.METHOD: A waitlist randomized controlled trial was conducted with 102 dementia family caregivers in Singapore. Primary outcomes that assess the clinical efficacy of MCAT-DC included perceived stress and caregiving burden, while secondary outcomes included depressive symptoms, resilience, hope, spirituality, social support, and quality of life.RESULTS: Between-group analysis using Mann-Whitney tests revealed significant reduction in perceived stress only among caregivers in the immediate-treatment group as compared to those in the waitlist-control group after completing MCAT-DC with a close-to-medium effect size ( = 714.0, = -2.29, = .022, = .243). Friedman test with follow-up Wilcoxon signed-rank tests examining the total effect of MCAT-DC across four time points showed significant decrease in caregiving burden immediately postintervention with a small effect size ( = -2.24, = .025, = .168), as well as a maintenance effect observed at 3-month ( = -3.32, < .001, = .248) and 6-month follow-ups ( = -1.97, = .049, = .147) with small to close-to-medium effect sizes. Caregivers also experienced significant reduction in depressive symptoms ( = -2.64, = .008, = .198) and significant increase in spiritual peace postintervention ( = 2.43, = .015, = .182) with a small effect size.CONCLUSIONS: MCAT-DC demonstrates strong potential to cultivate not only personal healing but also a collective capacity for care, fostering a more compassionate and enduring caregiving ecosystem. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).