Grant: Project Grant - PA: Patient-Oriented Research: Early-Career Investigator

Over half a million Canadians live with dementia, a number projected to reach 937,000 in just 9 years. Dementia damages thinking, but the human need to feel caring and belonging (social connectedness) remains essential for quality of life. We have long known that social isolation and loneliness undermine the quality of life experienced by people living with dementia in care homes. While visiting programs have addressed loneliness in other populations, little research has aimed to promote social connectedness experienced by people living with dementia. We developed Connecting Today, a feasible and highly acceptable remote visiting program that can support care home residents living with moderate to severe dementia to have video calls with their family members, friends, or care partners. This is the first clinical trial to assess the effectiveness of a remote visiting program for use with people living with dementia. Over 4 years, we will recruit 606 residents from 32 care homes (about 19 residents per home), and their family members, friends, or care partners. All participants will be offered 60 minutes of Connecting Today per week for 6 weeks (in either the intervention group, or in the wait-list control group). An onsite care provider will be trained to tailor the video calls, and facilitate positive verbal and non-verbal engagement. We will evaluate how Connecting Today affects outcomes for residents (quality of life, loneliness, and responsive behaviours) and their remote visitors (quality of life, loneliness, and social support). We will assess how outcomes differ for men, women, and people with different perceptions and experiences of Connecting Today. We will also interview the 32 facilitators and 50 of the remote visitors to explore their perceptions of the program's benefits and challenges. If we find that Connecting Today is effective and benefits participants, future research will assess how Connecting Today can be offered across Canada.