Vicky McKechnie, UCL, London, United Kingdom Josh Stott, UCL, London, United Kingdom Chris Barker*, UCL, London, United Kingdom Track: Research Presentation Topic: Building virtual communities and social networking applications for patients and consumers Presentation Type: Poster presentation Submission Type: Single Presentation Last modified: 2013-09-25

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Background: The wellbeing of informal carers of people with dementia is an important public health issue. Caring for an elderly relative with dementia may be burdensome and stressful, and negatively affect the carer’s social, family and professional life. The combination of loss, the physical demands of caregiving, prolonged distress, and biological vulnerabilities of older carers may compromise their physical health, increase social isolation and increase the risk of anxiety and depressive disorders. Increased caregiver stress is also linked to negative outcomes for the recipient of care and costs to society, including increased nursing home and hospital admissions. Consequently, carer support interventions are an important component of dementia care. Computer-mediated carer support offers a range of potential advantages compared to traditional face-to-face support groups, including accessibility and the possibility of tailoring to meet individual needs, but there has so far been little research on its effectiveness. The present study used a mixed-method design, with pre-post measures at a 12 weeks interval, to evaluate the effectiveness of Talking Point, the UK Alzheimer’s Society’s online support forum for carers of people with dementia. It examined users’ psychological changes over time, and their experiences of the forum.

Objectives: It was hypothesised that users would show reductions in anxiety and depression and an improved relationship quality with the person that they are caring for, and that the magnitude of such changes would be correlated with the amount of forum usage. The overall aim of the study was to help carers’ organisations make the best use of online support forums, and to ensure that support networks are designed so that carers gain maximum benefit.

Methods: A mixed-methods approach was used, with quantitative and qualitative components. Over 60 new users of Talking Point completed measures of anxiety (GAD-7), depression (PHQ-9), and quality of relationship with the person with dementia (SQCRC), at baseline and again after 12 weeks of forum usage. In addition, approximately 12 participants were interviewed in order to examine their detailed experiences of being on Talking Point and any positive or negative changes resulting from their use of the forum. Interviews were analysed using thematic analysis.

Results and Conclusions: Research in progress.