| Source of record | UK Trials |
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN08130075 |
| Date ISRCTN assigned | 25/04/2003 |
| Local reference number(s) | HTA 99/34/07 |
| Public title | Does befriending by trained lay workers improve psychological well-being and quality of life for carers of people with dementia, and at what cost?: a randomised controlled trial. |
| Scientific title |
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| Acronym | BECCA |
| Disease/condition/study domain | Nervous system diseases: Dementia |
| Study hypothesis | 1. To randomly allocate carers of people with dementia to one of two groups (access to an employed befriending facilitator vs. usual care) and follow-up for 3 years post-randomisation in order to compare: carer stress and coping strategies, quality of life in both the carers and people with dementia; resources use; and survival.
2. To document direct and indirect costs in both the intervention and control group, calculating the costs from the perspective of health, social and voluntary services and families involved in dementia care, and establish incremental cost-effectiveness.
3. To employ a befriending facilitator to collaborate with relevant voluntary agencies in recruiting, training and supporting befrienders, and matching befrienders to care dyads.
4. To disseminate project outputs including: effectiveness and cost effectiveness; model of befriender support and training. |
| Design/methodology | Randomised controlled trial |
| Research ethics review | Not provided at time of registration. |
| Countries of trial | United Kingdom |
| Participants - inclusion criteria | Carers of people with dementia |
| Participants - exclusion criteria | Not provided at time of registration. |
| Patient information material |
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| Anticipated start date | 01/01/2002 |
| Anticipated end date | 30/09/2006 |
| Status of trial | Completed |
| Target number of participants | Not provided at time of registration. |
| Interventions | Access to an employed befriending facilitator vs. standard care |
| Primary outcome measure(s) | Carer stress and coping strategies, quality of life in both the carers and people with dementia |
| Secondary outcome measure(s) | Not provided at time of registration. |
| Publications | Results in http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18284895 |
| Sources of funding | NIHR Health Technology Assessment Programme - HTA (UK) |
| Sponsor name | Department of Health (UK) |
| Sponsor details | Quarry House
Quarry Hill
Leeds
United Kingdom
LS2 7UE |
| Sponsor email | Sheila.Greener@doh.gsi.gov.uk |
| Sponsor website | http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/index.htm |
| Contact name | Dr Georgina Charlesworth |
| Contact details | Lecturer in Clinical & Hlth Psychology of Old Age
Centre for Behavioural & Social Science in Medicine
University College London
67-73 Charles Bell House
London
United Kingdom
W1W 7EJ |
| Contact telephone | +44 (0)20 7679 9334 |
| Contact fax | +44 (0)20 7679 9028 |
| Contact email | g.charlesworth@ucl.ac.uk |
| More information | For more up-to-date information please go to the ISRCTN link below. |
| Link to record in ISRCTN Register | ISRCTN08130075 |
| Date last extracted from ISRCTN register | 17/04/2008 |
