OSCARSS Cluster RCT & Process Evaluation
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Organising Support for Carers of Stroke Survivors (OSCARSS): A Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial with embedded Process Evaluation\n
IRAS ID
208484
Contact name
Audrey Bowen
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Manchester
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 3 days
Research summary
Informal carers – typically partners and family - provide invaluable support for stroke survivors but this affect their own health and well-being. Identifying and supporting the needs of informal caregivers is a national priority.\n\nThe Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool (CSNAT) represents a carer-led approach to individualised assessment of need and tailoring of support. In previous research, the CSNAT approach was used with people caring for someone at end-of-life. The approach reduced self-reported caregiver burden and was valued by palliative care professionals as a framework for providing care.\n\nWe have worked with informal carers of stroke survivors, researchers and stroke professionals to adapt the CSNAT approach for stroke(CSNAT-Stroke).\n\nOSCARSS will explore clinical- and cost-effectiveness of the CSNAT-Stroke intervention by recruiting services (called ‘clusters’) and randomly allocating those clusters to either be trained in the CSNAT-Stroke (intervention) or continue standard practice (control). All clusters will be from the Stroke Association: a national charity and service provider for stroke.\n\nAll participating clusters will deliver support to carers as per allocation and we will independently invite carers to join OSCARSS and complete questionnaires after 3 and 6 months that ask about their: health and well-being; thoughts about caregiving (including their ‘burden’); satisfaction with stroke services received; mood; use of healthcare services and time spent caring. All adult carers who receive Stroke Association support and can communicate in English will be invited to participate in OSCARSS. Some carers will be invited for telephone interviews to explore their experiences of support and enrich the questionnaire information. \n\nTo explore how well the Stroke Association deliver the CSNAT-Stroke and implement the study more broadly, we embed a ‘Process Evaluation’ in OSCARSS. This explores staff opinions on how the study influences their practice and whether they have been able to deliver the CSNAT-Stroke as planned.
REC name
North West - Preston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/NW/0657
Date of REC Opinion
14 Sep 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion