There is growing recognition that informal caregiving is a serious public health issue requiring supportive interventions. Informal caregivers play an essential role in sustaining a stable environment enabling individuals with motor neurone disease (MND) that become technology-dependent to live at home. The informal caregivers can experi­ence exceptional burden and significant decline in psychological wellbeing due to MND’s rapid and pro­gressive nature with profoundly debilitating effects and intensive support needs. Dependence on assistive technology adds an additional level of complexity to informal caregiving due to the need to learn how to operate and troubleshoot medical devices, train other caregivers, and negotiate appointments with new specialities within the healthcare system.

Despite the recognised impact of caregiving for individuals with MND, data are scarce as to effective interventions that provide direct practical and psychosocial supports. As the burden of caring increases due to disease progression and increasing technology dependence, access to existing informal support networks may diminish. Virtual peer-to-peer support is a flexible and low-cost form of support. Peers, people who have experienced the same health problem and have similar characteristics as support recipients, can be a key source of emotional, informational, and affirmational support. Peer support improves the psychological well-being of caregivers of people with conditions such as dementia, cancer, and brain injury. Although some peer support programmes for informal caregivers of people with MND do exist, data as to their efficacy are limited.