Befriending with GENIE (BwGEN): a pragmatic randomised controlled trial protocol to reduce loneliness and increase social support among migrants living with dementia.

INTRODUCTION

Culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) Australians living with dementia and their families experience high rates of loneliness and social isolation and struggle to access culturally relevant services. This protocol describes an Australian trial assessing the impact of Befriending with GENIE (BwGEN), an intervention aimed at reducing loneliness and increasing social connection, service knowledge and access among culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) older adults living with mild to moderate dementia and their families.

METHODS

BwGEN is a novel, co-designed intervention that combines a befriending program with GENIE, a networking intervention comprising a web-based software tool and network mapping activities that facilitate participants' awareness about their social network, support needs, and knowledge of services. The intervention consists of eight weekly one-hour BwGEN visits, delivered by a trained bilingual facilitator. In this pragmatic randomised controlled trial (RCT) 60 dyads (people with dementia and their family carer) in the intervention group receive BwGEN and 60 dyads in the control group receive usual care. Participants will be recruited through partner organisations and culturally tailored outreach activities across four states in Australia. People with dementia must be aged 65+ and be from one of four language and cultural groups: Chinese, Italian, South Asian, and Vietnamese. Outcome measures will be collected by blinded, bilingual outcome assessors at four timepoints: baseline, week 4, week 8 and week 16 (follow-up). The primary outcome is loneliness in the participant with dementia, and secondary outcomes include quality of life and social wellbeing of participant dyads, social support network for participant with dementia, and carer loneliness and burden. A health economic evaluation, process evaluation and qualitative study are conducted within the trial.

CONCLUSION

This is the first RCT evaluating BwGEN. If the intervention proves effective it may be incorporated into community and home-based service provider programs servicing CaLD clients.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: anzctr.org.au; ACTRN12623001286639. Prospectively registered on 11/12/2023.