Giving dementia carers emotional support reduces depression and anxiety

Giving dementia carers emotional support and strategies on how to cope, can reduce depression and anxiety and improve their quality of life, according to new research.

The START (STrAtegies for RelaTives) trial, led by Professor Gill Livingston at University College London, randomly assigned 260 family carers of people with dementia who were free from depression, to receive either the therapy programme or standard care.

Those who took part in the therapy sessions were seven times less likely to develop clinically significant depression for up to two years afterwards.

Professor Livingston said: “Worldwide, there are an estimated 44 million people with dementia, and this figure is likely to double every 20 years. Too often people forget the substantial effect dementia has on family members caring for relatives with dementia.

“Policy frameworks assume that families will remain the main providers of their (unpaid) support. This new cost-neutral programme is an effective way to support carers and improve their mental health and quality of life and should be made widely available.”

The eight-week course included education about dementia, dealing with stress, and where to get emotional support, as well as techniques for managing challenging behaviours of people with dementia.

Dr Doug Brown, director of research at Alzheimer's Society added: “It is pleasing to see research that focuses on improving the well-being of dementia carers whilst other researchers search for treatments and a cure. The profound effect dementia has on loved ones caring for someone with the condition, and surrounding friends and family, is often not acknowledged despite there being 670,000 people caring for someone with dementia in the UK. These carers save the economy a staggering £11.6bn a year as well as providing 1.34 bn hours of unpaid care.

“This programme gives us a successful and cost-effective way to support carers and reduce depression and anxiety and help improve their quality of life. If results like these were found with a new drug, it would be hailed as a breakthrough. It’s vital that interventions like this get implemented in practice and Alzheimer's Society is delighted to now be funding the delivery of this training on a larger scale.”

Two-thirds of people with dementia live at home, with their family providing most of their care. There are around 670,000 of these family carers in the UK, with 40 per cent developing clinical depression or anxiety.

The study ‘Long-term clinical and cost-effectiveness of psychological intervention for family carers of people with dementia: a single-blind, randomised, controlled trial.’ was published in The Lancet Psychiatry on 19 November.