Implementing the Dementia Early Stage Cognitive Aids New Trial (DESCANT) intervention: mixed-method process evaluation alongside a pragmatic randomised trial.

Objectives: The DESCANT (Dementia Early Stage Cognitive Aids New Trial) intervention provided a personalised care package designed to improve the cognitive abilities, function and well-being of people with early-stage dementia and their carers, by providing a range of memory aids, together with appropriate training and support. This sub-study aimed to assess implementation and identify contextual factors potentially associated with participant outcomes.

Method: A mixed-methods approach was adopted alongside the pragmatic randomised trial.

The Dementia Early Stage Cognitive Aids New Trial (DESCANT) intervention: A goal attainment scaling approach to promote self-management.

Objectives: This study investigated goals identified by people with dementia and their carers to promote the self-management of symptoms and abilities; measured achievement using goal attainment scaling (GAS); and explored the reflections of Dementia Support Practitioners (DSPs) facilitating it.

Methods And Design: Within this pragmatic randomised trial, DSPs gave memory aids, training and support to people with mild to moderate dementia and their carers at home. Data were collected across seven NHS Trusts in England and Wales (2016-2018) and abstracted from intervention records and semi-structured interviews with DSPs delivering the intervention, supplemented by a subset of the trial dataset.