Developing an online support platform for unpaid carers

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We will develop an online platform that will allow unpaid carers of older adults to join a chat group with peers and a support worker where they will receive guidance and emotional support. They will also have access to information to support them in their role and exercises to help them manage their wellbeing. Whereas peer support groups are usually delivered face-to-face (either in person or via videoconferencing) our solution will be chat-based. This new approach has recently begun to be tested in a range of different mental health settings. It is innovative for two reasons. First, chat-based support is attractive for some carers who feel uncomfortable opening up about personal matters face to face with strangers. Second, it is also cheaper and easier to provide, as it requires less input from trained professionals. For both these reasons it has the potential of increasing the number of people accessing support.The need for this tool and its potential features were identified through a review of existing research and our own experience of working with carers. We will now work closely with end users (carers and care commissioners) to validate our idea and develop more detailed designs. For example, we will explore how chat groups can be designed to facilitate conversation or how often the support worker should check in with the group and what type of support they should offer.In the first phase of work we will conduct several rounds of 1-1 user testing sessions with prototypes to understand carers' support needs and feedback on our idea. We will start with low fidelity prototypes (sketches) followed by mid fidelity clickable prototypes (mock up of screens that users can interact with). We will then build a minimum viable product of our tool and run usability testing sessions with users. At the start of this process we will also conduct a workshop with care commissioners to explore their perceptions. In the second phase of work, we will test our tool in a live pilot study with a few groups of carers. We will measure how participants are feeling about their lives and how often they have been in touch with other services (e.g. the NHS) through a survey at the start and end of the pilot. We will also interview participants about their experience to understand if they found the support helpful and how it could be improved. Throughout both phases of work will have a steering group consisting of staff from carer support providers, carers and care commissioners to discuss emerging research findings and take decisions on the direction of the design.