Work Package 4 Randomised controlled trial with internal pilot to evaluate CareCoach

What is the aim of WP4?

WP4 is a randomised controlled trial which will test the efficacy of CareCoach and provide a cost-effective analysis.

What is involved in WP4?

The anticipated target sample size will be around 624 participants (312 per group). WP4 will take place across 26 sites and will last for 12 months. The control group will receive ‘usual care’ in the community as per NICE guidelines/recruitment trusts clinical service. The intervention group will receive the CareCoach programme.

What is ‘usual care’?

Examples of carer support includes groups, leaflets (NHS trust, Dementia UK and Alzheimer’s society), care navigators to signpost support, local authority carer forums, Admiral Nurses, and carer counselling

Who will be included/excluded from the randomised control trial?

Study participants will be recruited from a variety of sites, including mental health memory services, primary care and the voluntary sector. Eligible participants will be adult family carers of people with dementia of all subtypes with access to the Internet at home, and self-reported basic computer literacy. We will exclude potential participants with insufficient cognitive abilities to engage with the online programme and those overburdened as determined by study staff. Up to 25 of these participants will also participate in qualitative interviews (see WP2).