Matching Exercise Volume in Active Control Groups for Yoga Interventions.

Context: The selection of a control group should foremost be determined by the study's primary intended outcome and trial design. When examining the effects of the physical movements that comprise yoga postures, an active control group, with physical exercise as the control, is often recommended. Objective: The current study aimed to define an active control group that participates in physical exercise, emphasizing the importance of matching the exercise's volume to that of an intervention group's yoga, and to provide a tangible example from a federally funded, recently completed, randomized controlled trial. Design: The research team designed a control group, providing a case study as a example of it. Setting: The study took place at Colorado State University. Intervention: The exercise component for the control group included 60 minutes of low-intensity exercise, matched with 60 minutes of Hatha yoga for the intervention group. Because the intervention included chronic pain self-management in addition to the exercise component, the education component for the control group included 45 minutes of group-based, general health-and-wellness education and discussion. Conclusions: Future randomized trials for yoga and other complementary or integrative health interventions should continue to use appropriate active control groups, which will serve to enhance the scientific rigor of conclusions that can be drawn with respect to the effectiveness of these interventions.

Manual development for a multi-modal, dyadic intervention for persistent pain: A Qualitative Study.

Background: People who experience persistent pain often require help from a family member, partner, or friend. These caregivers frequently have pain but are often not included in interventions. Caregivers and care receivers who both experience pain are more likely to be socially isolated, and experience communication conflict and decreased quality of life. Interventions should target caregiving dyads to help them manage their pain together. However, there are few intervention manuals or research protocols developed to support the dyad. Objective: The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the needs of caregiving dyads, including input from dyads and medical and allied health experts to inform the development of an intervention manual for dyads with persistent pain. Method: A total of 16 caregiving dyads experiencing persistent pain, one care receiver (caregiver could not participate), and 8 health experts, recruited from the community, participated in focus groups. Data were transcribed verbatim, uploaded into NVivo software, and analyzed using constant comparison qualitative methods. Results: Findings identified the importance of a new intervention to focus on modifiable approaches to managing pain as a dyad, addressing the emotional and psychological effects of experiencing pain as a dyad, and careful consideration of logistics to implement an intervention with dyads in persistent pain. Conclusion: These results highlight important considerations to meet the needs of caregiving dyads with pain. This study informed the development of the MY-Skills intervention, a novel program that merges self-management education with adaptive yoga to treat persistent pain in caregiving dyads.

Positive Health Behavior Changes in Custodial Grandparents and Grandchildren Following an Intervention.

BACKGROUND: Custodial grandparents experience greater physical health declines and higher rates of depression than their same-age peers who do not provide care, and grandchildren in grandfamilies often have behavior problems. However, few researchers have explored the impact of self-care education on decreasing these negative outcomes. Our study examined how a self-care and life-skills intervention influenced health behavior change in a sample of grandparents and grandchildren. METHODS: Data were collected during eleven focus groups (and two interviews) with 55 grandparents, and one focus group with five grandchildren, at 6 months after the 6-week intervention detailed in this paper. Grandparents ranged in age from 46 to 84 years old (M = 62.19, SD = 8.24). Participating grandchildren ranged in age from 9 to 12 years old. Focus group transcripts were coded for content related to grandparents' and grandchildren's positive behavior changes following the intervention. FINDINGS: Grandparents reported taking more time for themselves, reducing negative self-talk, increasing healthy physical choices, and having better communication skills after participating in the intervention. Similarly, grandchildren reported increased confidence in making friends, making good decisions, and getting along with others. Findings suggest that a self-care and life skills program show promise for improving the health and wellness of grandfamilies.