Description
Inclusion Criteria:
- * participants must provide at least 10 hours of care a week to a person with a diagnosis of dementia (including Alzheimer's disease (early onset or late onset), frontotemporal dementia, Lewy body dementia, Parkinsonian dementia, and mixed dementias)
- * participants must be willing to provide informed consent
- * participants have no planned travel during the study period
- * participants must be able to comply with basic instructions
- * participants must be able to sit comfortably for up to 90 minutes, and attend up to three 60-minute intervention sessions each week during the 4-week intervention period
- * participants must self report experiencing symptoms of stress, anxiety, or insomnia and meet threshold scores on one or more self-report inventories of these symptoms (Insomnia Severity Index (ISI, ≥ 8), the Perceived Stress Index (PSS, ≥ 14), or the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7, ≥ 5) scale)
Exclusion Criteria:
- * participants providing less than 10 hours a week of care to a person with dementia
- * participants who are unable or unwilling to attend intervention sessions during the planned study period
- * participants who are unable or unwilling to provide consent
- * participants who are unable to sit comfortably for up to 75 minutes
- * participants who are not exhibiting symptoms of stress, anxiety or insomnia
- * participants with hearing impairment severe enough that they cannot perceive tones through ear buds
- * participants anticipating ongoing use of alcohol or recreational drugs
- * participants with known seizure disorder, or suicidal thoughts within the last 3 months
- * participants who respond positively to a question about risk for suicide within the last 3 months will be excluded and receive a behavioral health resource list
- * participants weighing more than 400 pounds (the weight limit of the chair used during intervention)
- * participants currently enrolled in another intervention study
- * prior use of neuromodulation, neurostimulation, deep brain stimulation, neurofeedback, biofeedback, alpha stim, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR),or electroconvulsive therapy within the last month
- * participants taking Medications that may affect the assessment of heart rate variability (beta blockers. Ongoing need for treatment with opiate, benzodiazepine, or anti-psychotic medications, anti-depressant medications (SSRI, or SNRI's), sleep medications such as zolpidem or eszopiclone, stimulants such as Adderall, Provigil, or Ritalin, or thyroid hormone)
Ages Eligible for Study:
18 Years to N/A (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)
Sexes Eligible for Study: ALL
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Yes