Abstract
OBJECTIVES: As symptoms emerge and worsen in people living with dementia, their spouses can benefit from behavioral interventions to support their adjustment as a care partner. The Wish Outcome Obstacle Plan (WOOP) intervention improves the well-being of spouses of people living with dementia early in the disease course, but intervention mechanisms and opportunities for improvement are unclear. The present study gave voice to spouses who participated in a trial of WOOP, describing how WOOP was incorporated into their lives and how it could be improved for future implementation. METHOD: For this qualitative study, we conducted longitudinal semi-structured interviews among 21 spouses of people living with dementia (three interviews over three months; 63 interviews total). Codebook thematic analysis was performed. RESULTS: Three meta-themes were derived: (1) assessing baseline strengths and limitations of WOOP, (2) learning from experience, and (3) fine-tuning and sustaining WOOP. Participants described how WOOP addressed their interpersonal and emotional stressors, their responses to behaviors of the person living with dementia, and their relationship quality. Considerations for future intervention delivery (e.g., solo vs. in group settings) and instructions (e.g., encouraging writing vs. thinking through the four steps of WOOP) were identified as areas of improvement. CONCLUSIONS: WOOP was described as a practical, feasible, and desirable intervention for spouses at the early stages of their partner's dementia. Participants made WOOP easier to incorporate in their everyday lives by adapting the design into a mental exercise that they used as needed. Suggestions from participants specified how to make the everyday use of WOOP more feasible, sustainable, and applicable in a variety of contexts. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov HIC 2000021852.