he professional coaches (four nurses and one social worker) all had at least a Bachelor’s degree, as well as experience working with caregivers of elderly people. They received one day’s training on the stress management approach. Their role consisted in supervising the learning activities and exercises of the caregivers and responding to their queries during predetermined two-hour time slots three times a week. They also supervised exchanges among caregivers.
Given that the caregivers were not supposed to receive any other type of psychological support during the study period, an “SOS button” on the training website allowed caregivers in the event of an emergency to contact a member of the research team during normal work hours, that is, Monday to Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The availability of an SOS button on a website was indispensable in order to be able to support the caregivers in precarious or crisis situations and refer them rapidly to appropriate resources. The caregivers had to sign a study participation consent form sent to them by mail. The form was approved by the Research Centre’s Ethics Committee.
The standardized measures were taken at pre- and post-test via a secure web page. The qualitative data related to what was learned were collected at post-test in the course of a recorded 45-minute telephone call by an external interviewer trained by a member of the research team.