The Care Companion - impact of an interactive, online resource

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  The Care Companion - impact of an interactive, online personalised resource for enhancing carer resilience, well-being and sustainability: a real world, mixed methods study

• IRAS ID

  271605

• Contact name

  Jeremy Dale

• Contact email

  jeremy.dale@warwick.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  University of Warwick

• Duration of Study in the UK

  1 years, 11 months, 31 days

• Research summary

  Title:
  How is Care Companion being used to address the needs of those who are the main carers of older people, and how is this benefiting carers, those who they care for and wider society?

  Summary:
  Caring has an increasingly vital role in society. Growing numbers of older people with dementia, frailty and other complex needs are dependent on informal carers. Sustainable models of support are needed to assist carers to cope with ever-changing physical, emotional and social care needs. Care Companion has been developed with carers to address this issue. Its aim is to strengthen carer resilience and to sustain caring roles. It is an online platform that provides personalised access to local and national resources that are relevant to each carer’s particular situation, in addition to other functionality that includes a diary for recording key events and information and a mood monitor. With support from the NHS and local authorities in Coventry and Warwickshire, Care Companion has now been available to residents in this area for almost a year.

  Care Companion can be quickly made available at low cost to carers across the UK, but before this can be recommended there is a need to understand how best to make it available to carers, how it is used, how it benefits carers, and the value to the wider health and social care system.

  Aims:
  How Care Companion is taken up and used by those involved in caring; how it affects carer resilience and wellbeing; how this links with characteristics of the carer and cared for person; whether it represents value-for-money; carers’ and care professionals’ experience of using Care Companion.

  Methods:
  We will analyse data captured by Care Companion from its use in Coventry and Warwickshire and describe user characteristics and use of its resources; and investigate, using data from user-completed questionnaires, how this is associated with outcome measures that assess resilience, well-being and quality of life. We will invite carers, and health and social care professionals to participate in surveys and interviews about their experience of Care Companion, and how the resource can be improved.

  Funder:
  NIHR Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) Programme

• REC name

  West Midlands - Edgbaston Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  20/WM/0072

• Date of REC Opinion

  8 Jun 2020

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion