Online Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for family carers iACT4CARERS
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Online Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for family carers of people with dementia: A feasibility study of a new mode of delivery (iACT4CARERS)
IRAS ID
256357
Contact name
Naoko Kishita
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of East Anglia
ISRCTN Number
ISRCTN18956412
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 2 months, 31 days
Research summary
Research Summary:
Aims of the research:This project will convert face-to-face delivered “Acceptance and Commitment Therapy” (ACT) for family carers of people with dementia to an online mode of delivery combined with three face-to-face group sessions. We will then find out what works and does not work when using ACT in this new way so that we can carry out a full research trial in the future.
Background to the research:
Caring for someone with dementia can be hard and family carers are much more likely to be depressed or anxious than non-carers and therefore need support with their mental health. Unfortunately, family carers are currently under-provided for by NHS psychological services. This is because some carers are unable to travel and for others finding somebody else to look after the person with dementia while they attend psychological services is an issue. An online therapy could address this.
ACT helps people to deal with the inevitable psychological pain and distress of life. ACT teaches people how to respond to painful thoughts and feelings in such a way that these experiences exert less influence over what they do. This way more time is spent living a healthy life rather than fighting with thoughts and feelings. Many published studies support face-to-face ACT for people with anxiety or depression but there is little research into online ACT and it has not been tested with carers of people with dementia.
Design and methods used:
We will run initial tests of online ACT with carers across three NHS services to see what works and does not work. Online ACT will be combined with three face-to-face support groups which are optional to attend. Changes will be made based on carers’ and therapists’ feedback. This will help us to design a larger trial of online ACT for this population.
Summary of Results:
: One GP practice and two NHS mental health services were involved in the delivery of this feasibility study. Family carers of people with dementia presenting anxiety or depression were recruited into the study between August 2020 and January 2021. The study was successful with more than 100 potential carers being referred to the study in just six months. Thirty-three eligible carers received internet-delivered self-help Acceptance and Commitment Therapy guided by non-expert online therapists, more than originally planned. More than 70% of carers completed seven or all eight online sessions. There was preliminary evidence of improvements in scores of anxiety and depression, perhaps more so for anxiety.The individual interviews conducted with family carers who received the intervention suggested that family carers found the online platform easy to access and navigate and noticed some benefits such as being able to prioritise their own health needs, and therefore they liked this new online intervention (acceptability). The individual interviews conducted with non-expert online therapists suggested that therapists were satisfied with training and supervision opportunities and felt positive about their involvement (acceptability). Both interview data suggested that including some ‘face-to-face’ interactions (e.g. video calls) between family carers and online therapists may further improve the acceptability of the intervention.
Now we need a large trial to find out whether internet-delivered self-help Acceptance and Commitment Therapy helps carers symptoms and is affordable and so should be widely rolled out in the NHS. We will use the findings from this pilot work and apply for a large grant to conduct a large trial.
REC name
London - Queen Square Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/LO/0025
Date of REC Opinion
28 Jan 2020
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion