Journal of medical and dental sciences
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The aim of this study is to investigate the efficacy of a structured intervention program in emotional and physical states of family caregivers for elderly. This program is a series of five weekly 90-minute sessions including psycho-education, problem-solving techniques, and relaxation training. Subjects were 56 primary caregivers looking after relatives with dementia or disability at home. ⋯ Moreover, there was persistence of the improvement during two months after intervention. Post-intervention NK cell activity was significantly higher than the pre-intervention. These results indicated that our program was effective in managing the stress of family caregivers.