Thesis title: Valuable in their own right: Developing and piloting an intervention to validate the psychological needs and increase support-seeking among carers of people with a chronic physical health condition
Supervisors: Haryana Dhillon, Joanne Shaw, Helen Haydon, Rebekah Laidsaar-Powell
Thesis abstract:
«p»Carers are the "invisible backbone" of healthcare systems, providing essential support to people living with chronic physical health conditions. However, this support often comes at a personal cost, with many carers facing significant physical, financial, and psychological challenges. There is increasing recognition of the critical role of carers and the negative psychological impacts some carers experience as they navigate the changes associated with their new role. However, carers are often reluctant to seek psychological support. Reasons for this are multi-faceted but commonly include prioritisation of patient needs, time constraints, and attitudinal barriers to accessing mental health support. My PhD aims to reduce this “treatment engagement gap” by better understanding the reasons carers do not seek support and ultimately increasing their willingness to seek support when needed. My overarching hypothesis is that by helping carers acknowledge the value of psychological self-care, and empowering them to access carer-specific services, we can increase carer uptake of psychological services and bridge the gap between available services and the carers who need them. To achieve this, I will conduct a systematic review on psychological support-seeking in carers (Study 1), specifically focusing on the attitudinal barriers and facilitators to support-seeking. The results of Study 1 will be used as an empirical basis for the co-design of a brief intervention aimed at educating carers on the importance of seeking psychological support and helping them identify their need for support (Study 2). It is hypothesised that this will increase support-seeking among cancer carers. Finally, a pilot study will assess the feasibility and acceptability of the intervention (Study 3).«/p»