BELIDE: Better Living With Non-memory-led Dementia

Summary

Around 48 million people worldwide 1 live with dementia, of whom 3.9 million start with symptoms before the age of 65 (young-onset dementia). Most of the people presenting with young-onset dementia and some people with later onset dementia develop non-memory led dementias such as the atypical forms of Alzheimer ́s disease (AD)or frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Despite the proven benefits of educational programmes and skill training for caregivers, families of people with non-memory led dementias encounter fewer opportunities to receive this type of support. This is a significant gap in care considering that many people with young-onset non-memory led dementia are in their 50s or early 60s, which carries additional challenges about employment, financial stability, and childcare responsibilities. Finding suitable information and resources is less likely due to the lower prevalence of these phenotypes, their consequent geographical spread, and their atypical symptoms. Caregivers demands for more phenotype-specific support suggest that tailored provision of education and training is a gap in the provision of care in these types of dementia.

The aim of this study is to:

1. Determine the effectiveness of the Better Living with Non-memory Dementia educational programme for caregivers in improving psychological outcomes \[WS1\]; and
2. Conduct a mixed methods process analysis to elucidate mechanisms of change, barriers and facilitators to access and implementation as well as perceived benefits and costs \[WS2\].

The design is a randomised waiting list control trial with an 8-week intervention and 6-month follow-up comparing intervention to standard care with embedded process analysis. The intervention comprises a virtual onboarding session with a facilitator, 6 learning modules (including module-end real-life tasks to put skills into practice) and up to two further virtual check-in sessions with the facilitator. Intervention adaptation, adaptation to design and selection of primary outcome measures was based on feasibility work.

Conditions

• Dementia

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Better Living with Non-memory led Dementia programme

an 8-week duration 6-module educational programme covering the following topics: 1) Welcome to the programme and what to expect from it; 2) Understanding the disease; 3) How to provide better support for the person with dementia; 4) How to look after the caregiver's own mental health; 5) Where to find additional sources of support, and 6) An introduction to the value of support groups. At the end of modules 2, 3, and 4, participants will be asked to complete a real-life task to put in practice skills learned in the specific module (e.g., approaching a friend and explaining the disease in lay terms). The first session (onboarding) will be facilitated via Zoom by one of the members of the research team. Up to 3 total interactions between facilitators and participants will be offered to support participants' engagement with the programme. All course modules will be printable using the pdf download button on the programme's page.

OTHER

Waiting list

Signposting individuals to the publicly available Rare Dementia Support website. The control group will further receive access to the Better Living with Non-memory led Dementia programme after completing the collection of measures at 6 months.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University College, London

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2024-01-29

Primary Completion

2026-03-31

Completion

2027-09-30

Countries

• United Kingdom

Study Locations