Community-based dementia risk management and prevention program for Aboriginal Australians (DAMPAA): a randomised controlled trial study protocol.

INTRODUCTION

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are the First Peoples of Australia. Up to 45% of dementia in these populations is due to potentially modifiable risk factors. The Dementia Prevention and Risk Management Program for Aboriginal Australians (DAMPAA) is an Aboriginal Health Practitioner led programme that aims to reduce cognitive decline and functional impairment in older Aboriginal people.

METHODS

Design: DAMPAA is a multisite, randomised controlled trial aiming to deliver and evaluate a culturally appropriate risk factor management programme.

POPULATION

Community-dwelling Aboriginal people aged 45-90 years.

INTERVENTION

Participants will be randomly assigned to either usual care (control) or to a group programme comprising exercise and health education yarning sessions and pharmacist-delivered medication reviews delivered over a 12-month period.

PRIMARY OUTCOME

Cognitive function (Kimberley Indigenous Cognitive Assessment (KICA)-Cog score), daily function (KICA-Activities of Daily Living (ADL) score) and quality of life (Good Spirit, Good Life and EQ-5D-5L scores).

SECONDARY OUTCOMES

Process evaluation interviews, cardiovascular risk factors, falls and death. Process evaluation will be conducted with qualitative methods. Quantitative outcomes will be analysed with generalised linear mixed models.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

The study was approved by the Western Australian Aboriginal Health Ethics Committee and the University of Western Australia Human Research Ethics Committee. Study results will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at scientific meetings. We will also develop and disseminate a comprehensive DAMPAA toolkit for health services. The study's findings will guide future prevention strategies and outline a comprehensive process evaluation that may be useful in other Aboriginal health research to contextualise findings.