Evaluating a targeted support program for mental health carers: a randomised controlled trial

Introduction: Minds Together is a novel online early intervention program developed for carers of a person with depressive or anxiety symptoms. A previous study indicated the feasibility, acceptability and initial trends in efficacy for this support program. Aims: The current study used a parallel RCT design to explore the effect of adding a social support platform to this program on carers’ quality of life and perceived social support outcomes. Methods: 127 carers (82% female), living in Australia, were recruited online and randomly allocated to the program alone, or program paired with the social forum. Participants completed surveys at baseline, post and 3-month follow up. Results: Intervention and survey completion were low for this study. Across both groups, 49% completed the program and 20% used the social forum. Similarly, 42 participants completed post-surveys and 43 completed follow up surveys. The overall intervention effect between groups was non-significant for quality of life (p-value = 0.773) and perceived social support (p-value = 0.931). Conclusions: This is the first RCT to evaluate the effects of adding a social support component to an existing support program for carers of a person with depressive or anxiety symptoms. While unable to draw conclusions about the added social support, the study emphasises the urgent need for collaboration between researchers, consumers and sector professionals to address challenges related to missing data in online health intervention research.