Supporting family carers’ mental health
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Randomised controlled feasibility study and exploratory trial of the Carers-ID intervention: Supporting family carers’ mental health following the COVID-19 pandemic.
IRAS ID
338873
Contact name
Mark Linden
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Queen's University Belfast
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 10 months, 31 days
Research summary
Family carers play a crucial role in supporting the health and well-being of people with intellectual disabilities. Given their role and responsibilities many family carers experience significant and ongoing stress and mental health difficulties. Programmes and interventions which provide training and support to family carers have been shown to have a positive impact on levels of stress and quality of life. However, these are often face to face which can create barriers to full participation. Online interventions have been shown to offer flexibility in delivery compared with traditional face to face approaches. The primary objective of this study is to determine the feasibility of delivering the Carers-ID online intervention, while the secondary outcome is improved mental health in family carers of people with intellectual disabilities.
Family carers (n = 120) from across the UK, will be randomised to receive the intervention (n=60) or assigned to a wait-list control (n=60) group. The intervention (www.Carers-ID.com) consists of fourteen modules which cover topics including: promoting resilience, providing peer support, reducing anxiety, managing stress, accessing local supports, managing family conflict and information for siblings who are carers. Primary outcomes for this study include acceptability and feasibility of the outcome measures, recruitment, participation and retention rates and effect sizes. Secondary outcomes (measuring carers mental health) will be completed at three time points (baseline, following intervention completion and three months after completion). Participants (n=12) who have taken part in the intervention will be invited to participate in semi-structured interviews.
The Carers-ID intervention provides an online resource for family carers to support their mental health and wellbeing and promote their resilience. It represents an affordable and accessible means of delivering such support. Testing the feasibility of the intervention and related trial procedures is required to determine whether a full-scale randomised controlled trial to evaluate the intervention’s effectiveness is warranted.REC name
North West - Preston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/NW/0095
Date of REC Opinion
17 Apr 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion