Overview
Finding mechanisms to support people with dementia to maintain wellbeing and independence, and to participate in decision-making for as long as possible are key goals of dementia care. Approaches involving both people with dementia and their caregivers have the potential to produce greater benefits than involving either people with dementia or caregivers alone. This study aims to determine if a shared skill-building intervention improves the wellbeing of people with dementia and their caregivers. Community-dwelling people with dementia and their caregivers will be randomised as dyads to receive either the intervention or usual care. Dyads in the intervention group will receive 3 face-to-face group-based workshops covering a core set of evidence-based skills and techniques to manage dementia-related challenges and difficult decisions in line with their preferences.
The benefits of the intervention will be estimated from data collected from dyads at 6 months follow-up. The primary outcome is the quality of life of people with dementia and caregivers. The impact of the intervention on secondary outcomes including: depression, social engagement, instrumental activities of daily living functioning, impact of caregiving, and cost will also be assessed.
Progress
This study received ethics approval from the Hunter New England Human Research Ethics Committee in December 2017. The Working Group was in the process of developing the skills-building intervention, however, further intervention development is on-hold while trialling alternative recruitment strategies.
Next Steps
The Working Group will seek feedback from stakeholders on the draft intervention.