Trial of Empowered Conversations dementia carer training

Conditions

Carers of people living with dementia

Lydia Morris, Cassie Eastham, Chris Sutton, Yeliz Prior, Yvonne Sylvestre et al. (10 authors)

Pilot and Feasibility Studies2026-04-02

'It opens up a whole new world for everybody': how carers of people with dementia view the online empowered conversations communication course.

Eastham C, Prior Y, Keady J, Mansell W, Riley C, Walters M, Morris L.

2024-10-09

10.1080/13607863.2024.2410258

Protocol of a feasibility randomised controlled trial of Empowered Conversations: training family carers to enhance their relationships and communication with people living with dementia.

Cassie Eastham, Warren Mansell, Chris Sutton, Yeliz Prior, John Keady et al. (10 authors)

NIHR Open Research2023-07-103 citations

10.3310/nihropenres.13441.1

Interventions

The two arms will be the Empowered Conversations training intervention (plus Treatment as Usual), or Treatment as Usual (TAU) waitlist control. Empowered Conversations is a six-session online course

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: 1. Carer participants will be included if they live within the Greater Manchester area and are informally caring for someone living with dementia 2. Able to give informed consent 3. Have sufficient English language skills to understand the training (i.e. verbal and written language abilities required to understand verbal presentations and complete simple exercises) 4. Carer ability to participate will not be conditional on carers’ agreement to approach the person living with dementia or being able to consent the person living with dementia to be interviewed

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: Unable to give informed consent to the trial

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
1. Recruitment numbers achieved per month, i.e. per month an average of 6-10 carers 2. Retention rate recorded as the number of participants who remain in the study at the 6-month follow-up 3. Estimates of the standard deviations of candidate primary outcome measures will be examined to establish whether they could detect a minimally important difference and to assist with the estimation of the required sample size for a full effectiveness trial (see secondary outcome measures)	—

Measure

Time frame

1. Recruitment numbers achieved per month, i.e. per month an average of 6-10 carers 2. Retention rate recorded as the number of participants who remain in the study at the 6-month follow-up 3. Estimates of the standard deviations of candidate primary outcome measures will be examined to establish whether they could detect a minimally important difference and to assist with the estimation of the required sample size for a full effectiveness trial (see secondary outcome measures)

—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
The candidate primary outcome measures (all measured at 6 months) are: 1. Carer anxiety and depression measured using Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale Total Score (HADS-T) 2. Carer stress measured using Perceived Stress Scale 3. Carer relationship stress using the Dyadic relationship scale 4. Carer sense of competence in their caring role measured using Short Sense of Competence	—

Countries

England, United Kingdom

Contacts

Public ContactCassie Eastham

cassandra.eastham@gmmh.nhs.uk+44 (0)7920451062

Outcome results

None listed