Researchers Praise NIDUS-Family Intervention in Dementia Support

According to research conducted by Claudia Cooper, a Queen Mary University of London professor of psychological medicine, NIDUS-Family is a new therapy that assists individuals with dementia and the family caregivers in achieving their individual objectives. 

The NIDUS-family package of care and support centers on doable adjustments that individuals may make, with sessions tailored to the individual needs of the dementia patient. It can be given over the phone, through a video chat, in person, or to the dementia patient and family caregiver jointly. 

Participants in the NIDUS-family experiment, which involved 302 pairs of family caregivers and dementia patients and was reported in The Lancet Healthy Longevity, were encouraged to establish their own objectives. These could include increasing activity levels, improving mood, appetite, sleep quality, relationships, and social engagement, or enhancing caregiver support and overall well-being for the person with dementia. 

The recipients of the new support package had six to eight therapy sessions in the first half of the six-month period, followed by two to four phone calls for additional assistance. The assistance they received was customized to meet their objectives. 

According to the trial results, family caregivers who received the NIDUS-family intervention and the dementia patients they supported had a much higher chance of achieving their goals than those who continued to get their regular care for a year. This held true whether the intervention was given over the phone, over video conference, or in person. 

Non-clinical facilitators who received training and supervision carried out the intervention. After a year, only 9.3% of the intervention arm and 13.3% of the control arm had either died or transferred into a care facility. For an additional year, the trial participants will be monitored by the researchers to determine whether the new support prolongs the time that persons with dementia live in their own homes. 

The new treatment may be implemented throughout the NHS to provide standardized, evidence-based, individualized dementia care. The results align with the demand made by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) dementia inquiry, which calls for more equitable access to high-quality post-diagnostic support services for dementia across England, as well as a leveling-up of diagnosis rates and the care individuals receive after receiving a diagnosis. 

“Personalized post-diagnostic support is often lacking for many of the 900,000 people (about half the population of Idaho) living with dementia in the UK, leaving them feeling vulnerable and alone,” stated Dr. Richard Oakley, Associate Director of Research and Innovation at the Alzheimer’s Society.

In addition, according to NIDUS-Family, it can assist those with dementia in reaching their objectives so they can continue to live independently for a longer period of timeperiod. For thousands of carers around the UK, it is a lifeline—the first post-diagnostic support program that can be given online and without clinical expertise. 

“We are thrilled that further money has been obtained by the researchers to advance these discoveries and improve the program’s accessibility and inclusivity. This will contribute to providing the universal care and assistance that individuals with dementia sorely require.” 

“NIDUS-family has the potential to enable many more people to access good quality post-diagnostic support because it can be delivered by people without clinical training,” stated Professor Claudia Cooper, the lead author. The first easily scaled intervention for dementia patients shown to increase individual goals is NIDUS-Family. It can be provided remotely and ought to be included in health and care services.” 

Journal Reference  

A new psychosocial goal-setting and manualised support intervention for Independence in Dementia (NIDUS-Family) versus goal-setting and routine care: a single-masked, phase 3, superiority Randomised Controlled Trial., The Lancet Healthy Longevity (2024). DOI: 10.1016/S2666-7568(23)00262-3.