Evaluating an online program for carers of people with symptoms of depression or anxiety: a randomised controlled trial

INTERVENTION: The intervention is called Minds Together (the program). It is an online support program for community‐dwelling people providing informal support to someone living with symptoms of depression or anxiety. The program aims to support carers in responding to the person living with these symptoms and promoting their own health, well‐being and coping. It includes four activity modules: The caring journey, Caring for yourself and others, What matters to you, how to talk about, and Helpful strategies for everyday life. The modules, which are evidence‐informed, include targeted psychoeducation, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) strategies and tips for self‐care and managing stress. They use a mixed‐media format, including short videos and infographics that highlight some of the key information and feature 'real life' examples from carers' lived experiences. The modules also include podcasts that feature information and tips from clinicians, academics and experts in the mental health sector. In addition, activities aim to promote carers' mental health. For example, the timeline activity requires participants to reflect on their caring experience and document how this has changed over time. Participants are encouraged to plot times when they experienced high and low periods over the past few years. Following this activity, carers are presented with a graph of their journey. The visual representation of these experiences aims to show carers that while there are difficult times, there are also good times. At the end of the activity modules, there are take‐home messages and resources (e.g. downloadable PDFs) for carers to use at home and in their relationship with the care recipient. Each module takes approximately one hour to complete. The program has been develop CONDITION: Depressive symptomology;Anxiety symptomology ;Carer burden; ; Depressive symptomology ; Anxiety symptomology ; Carer burden Mental Health ‐ Anxiety Mental Health ‐ Depression Mental Health ‐ Studies of normal psychology, cognitive function and behaviour SECONDARY OUTCOME: Change in caring impact on work and activity using the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire: General Health V2.0 (WPAI: GH) scores in pre, post and follow‐up surveys for both study groups. [Participants complete this measure as part of the pre‐survey before enrollment. They need to answer all questions in this survey to enrol in the study. The measure will also be in the post‐survey timepoint (ten weeks after participant enrolment) and the second post‐survey timepoint, or follow‐up timepoint, (22 weeks following enrollment, or 12 weeks after the program access period).] INCLUSION CRITERIA: ‐Aged 16 years or over ‐ Currently living in Australia ‐ Currently caring for someone with symptoms of depression or anxiety. While the care‐recipient does not require a formal diagnosis of depression or anxiety, it is important that symptoms of one or both of these conditions cause the most interference with usual activities such as relationships, work or study. The rationale for this is to ensure we are targeting a cohort of people that can benefit from a program focussed on supporting someone with these symptoms predominantly. PRIMARY OUTCOME: Change in carer burden scores using the Caregiver Burden Scale (CBS; Zarit et al., 1980) in pre, post and follow‐up surveys for both study groups.[Participants complete this measure as part of the pre‐survey before enrollment. They need to answer all questions in this survey to enrol in the study. The measure will also be in the primary post‐survey timepoint (ten weeks after participant enrolment) and the second post‐survey timepoint, or follow‐up timepoint, (22 weeks following enrollment, or 12 weeks after the program access period).] Change in carers' coping self‐efficacy scores using the Coping Self‐Efficacy Scale (CSE; Chesney et al., 2006) in pre, post and follow‐up surveys for both study groups[Participants complete this measure as part of the pre‐survey before enrollment. They need to answer all questions in this survey to enrol in the study. The measure will also be in the primary post‐survey timepoint (ten weeks after participant enrolment) and the second post‐survey timepoint, or follow‐up timepoint, (22 weeks following enrollment, or 12 weeks after the program access period).] Change in carers' perceived social support using the brief form of Perceived Social Support Questionnaire (F‐SozU K‐6; Kliem et al., 2015) in pre, post and follow‐up surveys for both study groups. [Participants complete this measure as part of the pre‐survey before enrollment. They need to answer all questions in this survey to enrol in the study. The measure will also be in the primary post‐survey timepoint (ten weeks after participant enrolment) and the second post‐survey timepoint, or follow‐up timepoint, (22 weeks following enrollment, or 12 weeks after the program access period).]