Developing an online support platform for unpaid carers

我们将开发一个在线平台，使老年人的无偿护理人员能够加入与同龄人和支持工作者的聊天组，在那里他们将获得指导和情感支持。他们还将获得信息，以支持他们的角色和练习，以帮助他们管理自己的福祉。虽然同伴支持小组通常是面对面的（无论是面对面还是通过视频会议），但我们的解决方案将是基于聊天的。这种新方法最近开始在一系列不同的心理健康环境中进行测试。它之所以具有创新性，有两个原因。首先，基于聊天的支持对一些照顾者来说很有吸引力，他们觉得与陌生人面对面谈论个人事务很不舒服。其次，它也更便宜和更容易提供，因为它需要受过训练的专业人员的投入较少。由于这两个原因，它有可能增加获得支持的人数。通过审查现有的研究和我们自己的工作经验与照顾者，确定了对这种工具的需要及其潜在的功能。我们现在将与最终用户（护理人员和护理专员）密切合作，以验证我们的想法并开发更详细的设计。例如，我们会探讨如何设计聊天群组以促进对话，或支援人员应多久与群组联络一次，以及他们应提供何种支援。在第一阶段的工作中，我们会进行多轮1-1用户测试，以了解护老者的支援需求及对我们构想的回应。我们将从低保真原型（草图）开始，然后是中保真可点击原型（用户可以与之交互的屏幕模拟）。然后，我们将构建我们的工具的最小可行产品，并与用户进行可用性测试。在这一进程开始时，我们还将与护理专员举行一次研讨会，探讨他们的看法。在工作的第二阶段，我们将在几组护理人员的现场试点研究中测试我们的工具。我们将通过试点开始和结束时的调查，衡量参与者对自己生活的感受以及他们与其他服务（例如NHS）联系的频率。我们还将采访参与者，了解他们的经验，以了解他们是否发现支持有帮助，以及如何改进。在这两个阶段的工作中，将有一个由照顾者支助提供者、照顾者和照顾专员的工作人员组成的指导小组，讨论新的研究结果，并就设计方向作出决定。

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.