Older adults living with Alzheimer's Disease, dementia or mild cognitive impairment with no informal caregiver or care partner: IDEA Café, the first pilot randomized trial intervention for this underserved populations.

OBJECTIVES

This study presents findings from IDEA Café, for older adults aged 50 and older living with early dementia, dementia, Alzheimer's Disease or cognitive impairment (ED/CI) with no informal caregiver or care partner. IDEA Café is a group adaptation of Innovations in Dementia Empowerment and Action (IDEA) (built upon the foundation of RDAD). It was tested with sexual and gender minority (SGM) older adults, as an underserved population.

METHOD

Employing a two-group randomized controlled pilot trial, thirty participants were randomly assigned to IDEA Café ( = 15) or routine medical care (RMC;  = 15). Feasibility and acceptability were assessed. We conducted pre- and post-treatment assessments of primary and secondary outcomes.

RESULTS

IDEA Café was feasible (attendance, participation), acceptable (helpfulness of the program), and met enrollment goals, with 85% of participants reporting treatment as helpful. The treatment group showed significant improvement in physical functioning ( = 0.04), depressive symptomology ( = 0.03), quality of life ( = 0.04), and a reduction in microaggressions ( = 0.05) and social exclusion ( = 0.03). The RMC showed no statistical change from pretest to posttest.

CONCLUSION

A future randomized controlled trial is needed to test the efficacy and sustainability of the intervention and to bring the intervention to scale.