Aim The aim of the study was to assess the feasibility, practicality and acceptability of using a telephone intervention to support the psychological needs of carers of colorectal cancer patients.

Method This was a prospective ten-week intervention study. A structured psychoeducational telephone intervention was designed for six carers. Every two weeks telephone calls were conducted by a nurse to provide psychological support and education for the carers. Outcome data were measured using Chinese versions of the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21), Family Burden Interview Scale and World Health Organization Quality of Life Measure-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) Hong Kong (HK) at three time points: pre-intervention, four weeks after the start of the intervention and at ten-week follow up.

Results Carers reported psychological, physical and social problems related to caring tasks and high levels of stress and burden of care. The telephone intervention was found to be feasible, practical and acceptable.

Conclusion The telephone intervention was a feasible model, and provided valuable information and data to plan a full study.