ACT for Carers of People With Dementia

Background: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a therapy that helps people to notice and accept difficult thoughts and emotions. ACT also helps people to identify what they value in life (e.g. a good relationship with their partner) and make changes to their behaviour to promote these values. Carers of people with dementia may experience reduced wellbeing associated with their role. Those whose wellbeing is greater than previously are said to be 'flourishing'. Aim: The aim of this feasibility study is to evaluate the potential value of ACT as a group intervention for carers of people with dementia. Methods: Participants will include adult carers of people with dementia. Study participants will be identified from two older people community mental health teams. Informed consent will be sought prior to group invitations being sent out. There will be two groups in total (12 in each group) and both groups will attend three 2.5 hour sessions of ACT. All participants will complete questionnaires at the beginning and 21 days later (asking questions about their thoughts and feelings, flourishing and about being a carer). Eight group participants will be invited to a focus group to understand what they found more helpful and less helpful. Applications: Results from this study will potentially provide useful information to enable a further study with more participants to be conducted. The outcomes of this study will be shared with older people community mental health teams, dementia and carer specialist groups and potentially published in a relevant journal.