P147: Internet-delivered guided self-help Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for family carers of people with dementia (iACT4CARERS)

Abstract

Background and objective:

Despite the high prevalence of anxiety and depression, many family carers of people living with dementia are not able to access timely psychological support due to various barriers such as lack of respite care and a shortage of skilled therapists. Online treatments have the potential to improve access, and also scalability, reducing inequalities in access to care. This uncontrolled feasibility study aimed to evaluate whether it is feasible to deliver internet- delivered guided self-help Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (iACT4CARERS) within primary and secondary care services in the UK, and whether the intervention is acceptable to family carers of people living with dementia.

Method:

Family carers of people living with dementia presenting with mild to moderate anxiety or depression were recruited through healthcare services and public advertisements. Participants were offered eight, guided, self-help online ACT sessions adapted for the needs of family carers. Participants were also allocated a therapist who responded to questions to support their completion of each weekly session. Participants completed questionnaires assessing anxiety, depression and other outcomes before and after the intervention. They were also invited to attend an individual semi-structured interview to provide feedback on iACT4CARERSE at the end of the study.

Results:

Seventy-nine participants attended the screening session over six months, and 33 eligible participants (age range 47-85) received iACT4CARERS. Further, 70% of participants completed seven or all eight sessions, and 27% of participants were lost to follow-up, but none of the reasons for early withdrawal was related to the intervention. There was preliminary evidence of improvements in anxiety, depression and psychological flexibility, particularly in anxiety, which demonstrated an average reduction of 26% on the GAD7 anxiety scale. The results of qualitative interviews suggested that iACT4CARERS is acceptable to family carers. Positive carer experiences were particularly facilitated by the relatedness of the contents, increased feelings of connectedness and the user-friendliness of the online platform.

Conclusion:

The feasibility study provided evidence for the feasibility and acceptability of iACT4CARERS. This feasibility study led to an ongoing full-scale randomised controlled trial testing the clinical and cost effectiveness of iACT4CARERS. Recent developments of the iACT4CARERS project will be discussed.