CaringGPT: Empowering Dementia Caregivers with Personalized and Accessible Resources to Match Their Needs, Enhance Cope with Caregiving, and Reduce Stress

About This Grant

Project Summary Alzheimer's Disease (AD) significantly impacts not only patients but also the 11 million caregivers in the U.S., who are often family members. The prolonged caregiving journey, which can span several years, places a considerable emotional, physical, and financial burden on these caregivers, leading to increased risks of stress (59%), depression (30%) and decline in overall health. While many support systems are available to assist caregivers, they often remain dispersed and inaccessible due to barriers such as awareness of solutions, time constraints, and difficulty finding the right support for specific problems. A primary challenge is accessing resources that help to deal with caregiving, understand complex patient behaviors, develop skills for managing tough situations, and reduce caregiving-related stress. We propose CaringGPT (CGPT), an innovative solution that applies Generative AI (Artificial Intelligence) to address these challenges by providing caregivers with personalized assistance and resources tailored to their specific needs. CaringGPT will deliver curated information based on reliable sources, effective intervention content, practical skills, and stress-reducing techniques, streamlining access to the right support at any time. CGPT will help to close key gaps of existing approaches. Instead of knowing where to find specific solutions, spending time looking at different web pages (or trying different mobile apps), evaluating if content is relevant, and selecting parts of different programs to get an appropriate plan of action, CGPT will provide direct answers to caregivers in a single app, saving time and effort, which are critical for caregivers. Similar to how ChatGPT answers user questions directly, CaringGPT will deliver curated, evidence-based materials specifically for caregivers in a short conversation, in addition to a personalized plan for each user. The ability of CaringGPT to offer human-like conversations and personalized responses is likely to enhance acceptance of the program, user engagement, and benefits for caregivers. This project will help to advance the field by developing and evaluating a new Generative AI intervention for dementia caregivers with an AI Core (Knowledge Base) based on curated materials and content from proven interventions. CaringGPT will have high commercial potential because of its convenience, ease of use, vast relevant content (yet simple with direct answers), and time-saving features. Phase I will create the initial AI Core (Knowledge Base), develop the initial CaringGPT Gen AI cloud cluster, implement the CaringGPT app prototype, and assess feasibility. Phase II will fully develop the CaringGPT program and evaluate its effectiveness through a randomized clinical trial. CaringGPT will reduce caregiver stress and depressive symptoms related to Alzheimer's caregiving using a non-pharmacological approach. It will provide an effective, low-cost, and accessible mobile app that can be distributed to countless families facing Alzheimer's Disease through the Apple and Google Play app stores.