Caregivers to people living with dementia experience a lot of stress, misunderstanding and feeling lonely. The NYU Caregiver Intervention is an evidence based program that was established to provide support to spouses, partners, and families who are caring for a relative with dementia. Dr. Mary Mittelman and the expert clinicians at her NYU School of Medicine laboratory developed and tested the intervention for nearly thirty years.

Dr. Mittelman and her team have created an online training course for social workers and other social service clinicians to become certified in the intervention so they can bring it to their organizations or communities. In this interview, Dr. Mittelman discusses the NYU Caregiver Intervention from its inception to how it has evolved over nearly thirty years. She also details her plans for additional innovative caregiver interventions. Caregivers who participate in the program reported feeling more supported and experienced fewer symptoms of depression. They were also able to keep their family member at home for one and a half years on average longer than the caregivers who did not participate in the intervention.