A clinical and cost effectiveness RCT of iACT4CARERS
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The clinical and cost effectiveness of internet-delivered self-help Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for family carers of people with dementia (iACT4CARERS): A randomised controlled trial with ethnically diverse family carers
IRAS ID
324157
Contact name
Naoko Kishita
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of East Anglia
ISRCTN Number
ISRCTN45995725
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 6 months, 31 days
Research summary
Family carers are at higher risk of developing anxiety and depression. Offering treatments online improves availability for people who have mobility problems, live remotely or cannot leave home. This makes it more accessible to everyone and easier to provide, so could be rolled out nationally, reducing inequalities in access to care.
This large trial aims to find out: 1) if internet-delivered self-help Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for family carers of people with dementia (online ACT) is helpful in reducing anxiety and affordable; 2) how online ACT can be successfully delivered to diverse carer populations and in different healthcare settings.
We will recruit 496 family carers with anxiety, as that is the number we need to be sure that online ACT is adequately tested. Recruitment will target community groups, GPs and NHS mental health services with a specific focus on underrepresented people from ethnic minority groups. This is a randomised trial, where a computer allocates half the people to intervention and half to control group (standard care). People in the online ACT group will be asked to complete the intervention at their own pace with feedback from the therapist for each completed session. Participants in both groups will be asked to complete questionnaires assessing anxiety, depression and other relevant outcomes before and after the intervention and three months after that. We will also interview participants, therapists and clinicians involved in recruitment to gain in-depth insights into their views on the intervention and its implementation.
REC name
London - Queen Square Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/LO/0188
Date of REC Opinion
30 Mar 2023
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion