Background: Many family caregivers report unmet psychosocial and informational needs, which may negatively affect their health and quality of life. To prevent this, a web-based psychoeducational intervention featuring videos and texts has been developed.

Aim/Research question or hypothesis: To investigate the effects of the web-based intervention on family caregivers’ health and quality of life in specialized home care four weeks after access to the intervention.

Methods: In a family caregiver-targeted web-based intervention, participants were randomized to intervention or control group. Health and quality of life were assessed at baseline and after 4 weeks using one overall question from RAND-36 (1 excellent, 5 poor) and QOLLTI-F (0 very bad, 10 excellent), respectively. Mann-Whitney U tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to evaluate intervention effects.

Results: Participants n=205 had an average age of 64 years range 19–88, with 62.5 % being women, and the majority were the patient’s partner 68.8 %. Questionnaires were completed at baseline n=103 intervention and n=102 control, and at follow-up n=74 vs. n=78. At baseline, family caregivers in intervention and control reported health scores of Md=2.0 and Md=3.0, respectively, and quality of life scores of Md=7.0 and Md=7.0, respectively. No significant differences were found in health within groups intervention: p=0.063, control: p=0.092 or in quality of life p=0.340 vs. p=0.238. Additionally, no significant differences were found between groups health: p=0.897, quality of life: p=0.631.

Discussion: Although the web-based intervention offered accessible and flexible support, no effects on health or quality of life were found. Relatively high baseline levels may have limited the potential for improvement. It is also reasonable to assume that improvement is unlikely among family caregivers of patients near the end of life. Consistent with other studies, family caregivers with relatively high levels of health and quality of life appear more inclined to participate in research.