Family carers of people with dementia Mental and Behavioural Disorders
Conditions
Interventions
First, the study team member will approach the participant (either clinician-referred or self-referred) to check eligibly and will send the Participant Information Sheet. The participant will be given
Sponsors
University of East Anglia
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria: 1. Aged 18 and over 2. An unpaid carer for a relative with a clinical diagnosis of dementia 3. Identifying oneself as a ‘primary’ or ‘co-primary’ carer in their family 4. Scoring 6-15 on the Generalised Anxiety Disorder Assessment or scoring 6-15 on the Patient Health Questionnaire (i.e., the study will recruit family carers with mild-to-moderate anxiety or depressive symptoms and those with severe mental health problems will be excluded)
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria: 1. Receiving psychological treatment such as counselling and CBT 2. Experiencing current difficulties with a severe and poorly controlled psychiatric disorder (e.g., schizophrenia) or other conditions expected to impair treatment engagement (e.g., cognitive impairment) 3. Having no access to the internet in either their own home or at that of a friend/relative
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| The feasibility and acceptability of conducting a future effectiveness RCT, assessed during the trial recruitment phase, the intervention phase and the post-assessment phase (August 2020 – June 2021): 1. Recruitment, eligibility, and attrition: number of referrals over 6 months at each participating NHS site, rates and reasons for refusal, numbers ineligible, reasons for ineligibility, attrition rate, and reasons for withdrawing throughout the study. Timepoint: During the trial recruitment phase 2. Resulting sample characteristics: descriptive demographic data including carers’ age, gender, relationship to the care recipient, and the number of hours devoted to caregiving. Timepoint: During the intervention phase 3. Resources needed to complete online ACT: length of time required for carers to complete each online ACT session, length of time required for therapists to provide online feedback per participant, and the amount and nature of supervision required 4. Carer adherence to online ACT: records of access and engagement with online ACT (number of videos/audios accessed, self-reflection sent to a therapist, and practices completed). Timepoint: During the post-intervention phase 5. Carer acceptability: aspects of online ACT that carers found helpful and unhelpful, uptake rate of face-to-face groups in person and via videoconferencing, satisfaction with the intervention and therapists, and reasons for withdrawing from online ACT 6. Therapist acceptability: satisfaction with training and supervision, therapist competence in integrating ACT training into online ACT, and intervention fidelity | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| The following measures will be completed at baseline (0 weeks) and post-intervention (12 weeks): 1. Depression and anxiety assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, the Revised Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale and the Generalised Anxiety Disorder Scale-7 2. Carer burden assessed using the Zarit Burden Interview Short version 3. Psychological process measures: The Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II, the Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire, the Experiential Avoidance in Caregiving Questionnaire and the Caregiving Ambivalence Scale 4. Quality of life assessed using the ICEpop CAPability measure for Older people 5. Behaviour symptoms of dementia assessed using the Revised Memory and Behavior Problems Checklist | — |
Countries
England, United Kingdom
Outcome results
None listed