Recruitment progress and shaping the intervention

LEND project update: recruitment progress and shaping the intervention

At our May programme meeting, the LEND team reviewed progress across the first phase of the project and discussed the next steps for developing the intervention.

Recruitment for the interview study has gone very well, with the team have reached the target of 30 participants, with 31 interviews completed. These interviews have now been transcribed, and analysis is beginning.

The narrative impact validation study has also opened. This work will help explore how different stories are experienced and what kinds of narratives may be most meaningful, helpful, or appropriate for different people. Recruitment is now being supported through national routes, including Join Dementia Research.

Focus groups are also progressing, with 18 participants recruited so far. These groups are helping the team understand the views and experiences of people from different cultural backgrounds and underserved communities.

The team also discussed the development of the LEND narrative collection. Around 100 stories will be needed for the feasibility study, and work is underway to assess which narratives should be included. This includes adapting previous work on narrative characteristics so that it is suitable for people living with dementia and family carers.

An update was shared on the intervention design. The proposal is to separate the intervention into two parts: story selection and story delivery. Story selection will help people choose the kinds of stories they would like to receive, while story delivery will focus on how those stories are sent to them. The team is exploring options such as email, SMS and WhatsApp, with participants able to choose how often they receive stories.