START Training – January 2026

Booking now open for our next START training dates for clinically and non-clinically qualified staff to deliver START. Email DoP.START@ucl.ac.uk

Book now

What is START? 

START is an eight session, manual-based one-to-one programme for family members of relatives with dementia, with the aim of reducing depression and anxiety in the short and long term.

Our clinical trial showed that START reduced depression and anxiety for family carers of people with dementia when measured at eight months and two years after they had received the intervention.  

Following the success of the START trial, we have funding from the Alzheimer’s Society to widen access to START by adapting it for delivery in the third sector and to Minority Ethnic (ME) groups, within existing structures of the Alzheimer’s Society (AS) and the South Asian community in the first instance.

Watch the below video to find out more about START and how it can help:

 

Embed this video to your website

We have shared the code below so that you can embed the above video onto your own service website:

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START Resources

Access to START resources is free. Resources include START manuals for carers and facilitators in English, Hindi and Urdu (for UK use), English, Kannada and Tamil (for India use), Japanese and Spanish. We also have START manuals for carers of people with PDD & DLB, as well as START Relaxation Exercises (MP3). 

To get access, we ask you to fill out the form below. Once completed you will be sent a link to our SharePoint site with all our resources available.

FAQs

1. What do I do if I can't access the manuals or resources?

To access the START manuals/resources, please complete this short form first. Once submitted, your request will be processed within 5 working days, then you’ll be able to view and download the resources here. If you still can’t access them please email us on dop.start@ucl.ac.uk

2. I am a family member or carer, can I access the course?

The START practitioner training is designed for professionals and staff who support family carers (e.g., NHS, social care, voluntary sector).

If you’re contacting us as a family member or carer, this practitioner training may not be the right fit. Please share a little about what you’re looking for to this email dop.start@ucl.ac.uk, we can point you to the most appropriate option and resources.

3. Who is the START training suitable for? 

The training is suitable for practitioners who support family carers of people living with dementia, including psychology, nursing, AHPs, social workers and dementia support roles.

4. How do we book multiple places as an organisation? 

To book your places, the finance team at your trust or organisation will need to arrange payment via a purchase order (PO). Once the PO is raised, they can send it to us directly and we will contact our finance team to issue the invoice. You won’t need to complete the online registration yourself.

If you have any questions about the process please email the team at dop.start@ucl.ac.uk. We will then confirm next steps and hold places accordingly.

5. Can you hold places while a PO is arranged? 

We’re happy to hold places but if additional people register and complete payment in the meantime, availability may change. We will always do our best to accommodate teams.

Contact us

We welcome collaborations with academic and clinical centres interested in translating and validating the use of START in different languages, settings and disease groups.

Short-term clinical and cost effectiveness

  • Livingston, G., Barber, J., Rapaport, P., Knapp, M., Griffin, M., King, D., Livingston, D., Mummery, C., Walker, Z., Hoe, J., Sampson, E. L., & Cooper, C. (2013). Clinical effectiveness of a manual based coping strategy programme (START, STrAtegies for RelaTives) in promoting the mental health of carers of family members with dementia: pragmatic randomised controlled trial. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 347, f6276. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.f6276
  • Knapp, M., King, D., Romeo, R., Schehl, B., Barber, J., Griffin, M., Rapaport, P., Livingston, D., Mummery, C., Walker, Z., Hoe, J., Sampson, E. L., Cooper, C., & Livingston, G. (2013). Cost effectiveness of a manual based coping strategy programme in promoting the mental health of family carers of people with dementia (the START (STrAtegies for RelaTives) study): a pragmatic randomised controlled trial. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 347, f6342. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.f6342 

Long-term outcomes 

  • Livingston, G., Barber, J., Rapaport, P., Knapp, M., Griffin, M., King, D., Romeo, R., Livingston, D., Mummery, C., Walker, Z., Hoe, J., & Cooper, C. (2014). Long-term clinical and cost-effectiveness of psychological intervention for family carers of people with dementia: a single-blind, randomised, controlled trial. The lancet. Psychiatry, 1(7), 539–548. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(14)00073-X
  • Livingston, G., Manela, M., O'Keeffe, A., Rapaport, P., Cooper, C., Knapp, M., King, D., Romeo, R., Walker, Z., Hoe, J., Mummery, C., & Barber, J. (2020). Clinical effectiveness of the START (STrAtegies for RelaTives) psychological intervention for family carers and the effects on the cost of care for people with dementia: 6-year follow-up of a randomised controlled trial. The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science, 216(1), 35–42. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.2019.160 

Implementation

  • Knapp, M., Lorenz-Dant, K., Walbaum, M., Comas-Herrera, A., Cyhlarova, E., Livingston, G., & Wittenberg, R. (2024). Scaling-up an evidence-based intervention for family carers of people with dementia: Current and future costs and outcomes. International journal of geriatric psychiatry, 39(2), e6059. https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.6059
  • Lord, K., Rapaport, P., Cooper, C., & Livingston, G. (2017). Disseminating START: training clinical psychologists and admiral nurses as trainers in a psychosocial intervention for carers of people with dementia's depressive and anxiety symptoms. BMJ open, 7(8), e017759. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-017759
  • Webster, L., Amador, S., Rapaport, P., Mukadam, N., Sommerlad, A., James, T., Javed, S., Roche, M., Lord, K., Bharadia, T., Rahman-Amin, M., Lang, I., & Livingston, G. (2023). Tailoring STrAtegies for RelaTives for Black and South Asian dementia family carers in the United Kingdom: A mixed methods study. International journal of geriatric psychiatry, 38(1), e5868. https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.5868
  • Kashimura, M., Rapaport, P., Nomura, T., Ishiwata, A., Tateno, A., Nogami, A., Yamashita, M., Kawanishi, T., Kawashima, Y., Kitamura, S., & Livingston, G. (2021). Acceptability and feasibility of a Japanese version of STrAtegies for RelaTives (START-J): A manualized coping strategy program for family caregivers of relatives living with dementia. Dementia (London, England), 20(3), 985–1004. https://doi.org/10.1177/1471301220919938
  • Foley, J. A., Dore, C., Zarkali, A., Livingston, G., Cipolotti, L., Mummery, C. J., & Weil, R. S. (2020). Evaluation of START (STrAtegies for RelaTives) adapted for carers of people with Lewy body dementia. Future healthcare journal, 7(3), e27–e29. https://doi.org/10.7861/fhj.2020-0003
  • Amador, S., Rapaport, P., Lang, I., Sommerlad, A., Mukadam, N., Stringer, A., Hart, N., Nurock, S., & Livingston, G. (2021). Implementation of START (STrAtegies for RelaTives) for dementia carers in the third sector: Widening access to evidence-based interventions. PloS one, 16(6), e0250410. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0250410
  • Cannon, V., Kuhn, R., Turnbull, G., & Charlesworth, G. (2024). Implementing STrAtegies for RelaTives of people with dementia (START) as a group: a service-level case study of collaboration between Talking Therapies and Memory Services. The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist, 17, e37. doi:10.1017/S1754470X24000291
  • Loi, S. M., Tropea, J., Gaffy, E., Panayiotou, A., Capon, H., Chiang, J., Bryant, C., Doyle, C., Kelly, M., Livingston, G., & Dow, B. (2022). START-online: acceptability and feasibility of an online intervention for carers of people living with dementia. Pilot and feasibility studies, 8(1), 41. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40814-022-00999-0
  • Kelly, M., Kilham, K., Walter, A., Bell-Weinberg, K., Livingston, G., & Dow, B. (2024). Adaptation and feasibility of START online, a multicomponent intervention for Australian carers of people with dementia: a pilot randomised controlled trial. Brain Impairment, 25(1). https://doi.org/10.1071/IB23073 

Mechanisms and mediators of change

  • Li, R., Cooper, C., Barber, J., Rapaport, P., Griffin, M., & Livingston, G. (2014). Coping strategies as mediators of the effect of the START (strategies for RelaTives) intervention on psychological morbidity for family carers of people with dementia in a randomised controlled trial. Journal of affective disorders, 168, 298–305. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2014.07.008
  • Sommerlad, A., Manela, M., Cooper, C., Rapaport, P., & Livingston, G. (2014). START (STrAtegies for RelaTives) coping strategy for family carers of adults with dementia: qualitative study of participants' views about the intervention. BMJ open, 4(6), e005273. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2014-005273 

Abuse 

  • Cooper, C., Barber, J., Griffin, M., Rapaport, P., & Livingston, G. (2016). Effectiveness of START psychological intervention in reducing abuse by dementia family carers: randomized controlled trial. International psychogeriatrics, 28(6), 881–887. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1041610215002033 

START-derived programme (sleep): DREAMS-START

  • Rapaport, P., Amador, S., Adeleke, M. O., Barber, J. A., Banerjee, S., Charlesworth, G., Clarke, C., Espie, C. A., Gonzalez, L., Horsley, R., Hunter, R., Kyle, S. D., Manela, M., Raczek, M., Walker, Z., Webster, L., Yuan, H., & Livingston, G. (2024). Clinical effectiveness of DREAMS START (Dementia Related Manual for Sleep; Strategies for Relatives) versus usual care for people with dementia and their carers: a single-masked, phase 3, parallel-arm, superiority randomised controlled trial. The lancet. Healthy longevity, 5(10), 100635. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanhl.2024.08.004
  • Rapaport, P., Amador, S., Adeleke, M., Banerjee, S., Barber, J., Charlesworth, G., Clarke, C., Connell, C., Espie, C., Gonzalez, L., Horsley, R., Hunter, R., Kyle, S. D., Manela, M., Morris, S., Pikett, L., Raczek, M., Thornton, E., Walker, Z., Webster, L., … Livingston, G. (2024). Clinical and cost-effectiveness of DREAMS START (Dementia RElAted Manual for Sleep; STrAtegies for RelaTives) for people living with dementia and their carers: a study protocol for a parallel multicentre randomised controlled trial. BMJ open, 14(2), e075273. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-075273
  • Amador, S., Livingston, G., Adeleke, M., Barber, J., Webster, L., Yuan, H., Banerjee, S., Bhojwani, A., Charlesworth, G., Clarke, C., Connell, C., Espie, C. A., Gan, R., Gonzalez, L., Horsley, R., Hunter, R. M., Kyle, S. D., Muralidhar, M., Pikett, L., Raczek, M., … Rapaport, P. (2025). Process evaluation in a randomised controlled trial of DREAMS-START (dementia related manual for sleep; strategies for relatives) for sleep disturbance in people with dementia and their carers. Age and ageing, 54(3), afaf053. https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afaf053 

Full project report

  • Livingston G, Barber J, Rapaport P, Knapp M, Griffin M, Romeo R, King D, Livingston D, Lewis-Holmes E, Mummery C, Walker Z, Hoe J, Cooper C (2014). National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment (HTA) full report. https://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/hta/HTA18610