Wellness enhancement for caregivers 2.0: feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary 12‐month outcomes for Chinese American dementia caregivers

Abstract INTRODUCTION Chinese American dementia caregivers face cultural, linguistic, and service‐access barriers, yet evidence on culturally tailored digital support and 12‐month caregiver outcomes remains limited. METHODS In a single‐arm pilot, 48 caregivers received the 7‐week Chinese‐language Wellness Enhancement for Caregivers 2.0 (WECARE 2.0) intervention through WeChat. Assessments occurred at baseline, 2 to 4 weeks after intervention, and 12 months. Feasibility and acceptability indicators included retention, program completion, weekly process‐survey response, satisfaction, and perceived usefulness. Paired t tests and Wilcoxon signed‐rank tests examined within‐person changes in depressive symptoms and secondary outcomes. Subgroup analyses by baseline depressive symptoms and English proficiency were exploratory. RESULTS Forty‐five participants completed the post‐intervention assessment, and 36 (75.0% of those enrolled) completed the 12‐month follow‐up. Program completion was 82%; mean satisfaction and perceived usefulness scores were 30.11/35 and 21.84/25, respectively. After intervention, caregiving mastery and positive aspects of caregiving increased, whereas depressive symptoms, burden, life satisfaction, and care‐recipient problem behaviors did not change significantly. Positive aspects of caregiving remained higher than baseline at 12 months; the other caregiver psychosocial outcomes did not change significantly. Exploratory descriptive analyses also showed favorable patterns in selected outcomes among caregivers with elevated depressive symptoms or limited English proficiency. DISCUSSION WECARE 2.0 was feasible and acceptable. Controlled studies are needed to evaluate caregiver outcomes, maintenance over time, and applicability across underserved caregiver populations. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT05992467.