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. 2022 Dec;17(1):2066255.
doi: 10.1080/17482631.2022.2066255.

Internet-delivered guided self-help Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for family carers of people with dementia (iACT4CARERS): a qualitative study of carer views and acceptability

Milena Contreras  1 , Elien Van Hout  1 , Morag Farquhar  1 , Lance M McCracken  2 , Rebecca L Gould  3 , Michael Hornberger  4 , Erica Richmond  5 , Naoko Kishita  1
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Internet-delivered guided self-help Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for family carers of people with dementia (iACT4CARERS): a qualitative study of carer views and acceptability

Milena Contreras et al. Int J Qual Stud Health Well-being. 2022 Dec.

Abstract

Purpose: To explore carers' views and acceptability of internet-delivered, therapist-guided, self-help Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for family carers of people with dementia (iACT4CARERS).

Methods: A qualitative approach with semi-structured interviews was employed with family carers (N = 23) taking part in a feasibility study of iACT4CARERS. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis.

Results: Four overarching themes were identified: 1) usefulness and relevance of the content of the sessions, 2) sense of connectedness, 3) the impact of the intervention on participants and 4) acceptability of the online delivery. Positive carer experiences and intervention acceptability were facilitated by learning helpful ACT skills, perceiving the content of the session as relatable to the carers' needs, feeling connected to other carers and the therapist during the intervention, noticing the benefits of the intervention and the user-friendliness of the online platform. Recommendations for a full-scale trial were identified, such as the inclusion of some "face-to-face" interactions (e.g., via video call) between carers and therapists to facilitate a bidirectional interaction and the provision of an additional aide-memoire to improve the learning experiences.

Conclusion: Overall, the intervention was acceptable to the family carers. The proposed recommendations should be considered in a full-scale trial.

Keywords: Intervention acceptability; informal caregivers; online therapy; self-compassion; therapeutic relationship.

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Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s)

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Overview of overarching themes and sub-themes.
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Grants and funding

This project is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) under its Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) Programme (Grant Reference Number PB-PG-0418-20001). The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.
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