Project Description

Challenge

Family caregivers of people with neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDDs) often experience stress and mental health difficulties (e.g., anxiety, depression). However, there are few services to support their wellbeing. Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) helps people to cope by increasing acceptance and mindfulness skills, which may help these caregivers.

Commitment Training (ACT) Project Summary

The ACT‐based intervention is unique in that it is co‐designed and co‐delivered by clinicians and caregivers together. The project team found that caregivers of people with autism and FASD who participated in these workshops reported feeling less depressed, stressed and isolated.

The project team has started training new caregivers and clinicians from across Canada to deliver ACT workshops, both in‐person and virtually. An important next step is to support newly-trained facilitators to deliver ACT to caregivers of people with NDDs in their communities—and to better understand how it works when implemented in real‐world conditions. The project team also seeks to understand what makes it easy or challenging for caregivers and clinicians to co‐lead the intervention together.

These findings will help the project team to successfully spread the partnered ACT intervention to other agencies and communities. This project will contribute to the movement of empowering caregivers to have their voices heard in co‐creating, co‐designing, and co‐delivering interventions for other caregivers.

Funding Partners

Kids Brain Health Network – $98,242
Brain Canada – $98,242
The Azrieli Foundation/La Fondation Azrieli – $238,651
BC Centre for Ability – $5,700 in‐kind
Bethesda Services – $6,100 in‐kind
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) – $9,180 in‐kind
Dalhousie Department of Family Medicine with Autism Nova Scotia – $3,500 in‐kind
Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital – $9,450 in‐kind
Scarborough Centre for Healthy Communities – $2,000 in‐kind
Sibling Collaborative – $8,076 in‐kind

Contributions as of February 2023

Team

Principal Investigators

Dr. Kenneth Fung, University Health Network
Dr. Johanna Lake, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)
Dr. Yona Lunsky, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)

Partner Researcher

Jodie Siu, BC Centre for Ability
Lee Steel, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)

Co-Investigators

Dr. Nicole Bobette, Queen’s University
Dr. Melanie Penner, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital
Dr. Kendra Thomson, Brock University
Dr. Jonathan Weiss, York University