iSupport

Domain V · Systemic, relational, group & community · 2019

What it is

iSupport is not a psychotherapy. WHO calls it a self-help skills and training programme for family and other unpaid carers of people with dementia. Its stated aim is to prevent or reduce the mental and physical health problems that come with caregiving, and to improve carers' quality of life. It…

Format

• Dose and format.
• Self-paced and individual. Carers may work in order or pick only the lessons relevant to them.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Optional minimal guidance: volunteer e-coaches with 4 hours of training send up to 3 proactive emails (at the start, at 1 month and at 2 months) and answer carer-initiated contact, aiming for at most about 10 interactions.
• Licensing and fidelity. The WHO manual is released under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO. National or local adaptations go through WHO (whodementia@who.int) and follow a WHO adaptation and implementation guide. No certification for facilitators or clinicians, and no fidelity monitoring for those recommending or guiding the programme, was found. Adaptations change names, activities, timetables and helpline details.
• Version followed: WHO generic iSupport for Dementia: Training and support manual for carers of people with dementia (WHO 2019; 5 modules, 23 lessons; online course on the PAHO/WHO virtual campus). Front matter and Modules 1 to 3 (Lesson 2) were read in the WHO-licensed Qatar (QNDP/Hamad) English adaptation and an English copy of the WHO generic manual. The rest of Module 3, plus Modules 4 and 5, were read mainly in…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Balance problems. Do it seated.
• Losing count is fine. Just restart.
• Frequent night waking. Medical review.
• Guilt that won't shift. Take it into M3.3.
• Carer frustration, which is a cue for M3.3.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.