DELIGHT Study Expands

People living with dementia and their care partners want to continue living as well as possible after a dementia diagnosis. The DELIGHT program was co-designed by people living with dementia, care partners, researchers, health care professionals and community partners to help them do just that. The DELIGHT program provides an opportunity for people living with dementia and their care partners to come together to improve their health and well-being in an enjoyable and supportive atmosphere.

The DELIGHT Program

The DELIGHT program involves two 90-minute Zoom sessions each week over 8-weeks, for a total of 16 sessions. You will receive a DELIGHT program booklet that includes many resources to help you learn about how to be healthy and well when living with dementia.

Each DELIGHT program session is structured similarly. The first half of each session is exercise. All fitness levels are welcome. The exercises are beginner-friendly, but we give different difficulty levels so that that exercise can be appropriate for diverse fitness and experience levels.

After a short break, the last half hour is spent discussing ways that people living with dementia and care partners can improve their health and well-being. We cover physical activity, healthy eating, social support, mental well-being and sleep. We share resources that give you information about each topic and healthy recipes to try when we talk about healthy eating. Importantly, we also encourage participants to share programs, resources or strategies that they have found useful.

The goals of this study are to:

1. Determine if the DELIGHT program can be delivered virtually through Zoom.
2. Understand the strengths, weaknesses and changes that could improve the DELIGHT program
3. Describe the impact of the program on people living with dementia, care partners, and program facilitators.

Who can participate?

We are looking for people living with dementia to participate. They can be accompanied by a family/friend care partner, but this is not required.

Specifically, participants must:

• Be living with dementia or a care partner to someone living with dementia
• Able to speak and understand English
• Be able to access Zoom using a computer or tablet that has a camera and microphone. We can help you connect to Zoom for the first time.
• Be safe to exercise (we will check when you contact us)
• Be able to follow two-step instructions

What information do we collect?

It all starts with an introduction to the program and screening to make sure that the DELIGHT program is a good fit for you. If it is and you want to participate, we will review the informed consent with you to make sure you understand everything that is involved in the study. You will decide whether or not to consent to participate.

Before participants start the program and at the end of the program, we will ask you about yourself and your experiences. These assessments will also take place on Zoom. Participants will be asked to share information about themselves, their health and well-being, and their eating and physical activity habits. We will also assess participants’ physical abilities through a few exercises (movement assessments).

At the end of the program, participants are interviewed to understand their experience, likes, dislikes, thoughts, and feedback about the program.

Important Details

You are free to withdraw from the study at any time and for any reason. All your data will be kept secure and confidential.

You may choose to share personal information on the calls. We will ask other participants to keep any personal information to themselves, but we cannot guarantee this

Impact of the Study

This study will allow us to understand the experience and impact of the DELIGHT program. The results may help us to improve the program and to plan our next steps for the program. Next steps are expected to include broader implementation and evaluation of the DELIGHT program. In the long-term, we hope that the DELIGHT program can be implemented across Canadian communities to improve the health and well-being of people living with dementia and their family and friends.

More detail about what will happen if you participate in the DELIGHT Study

Participating in the DELIGHT study means participating in a series of Zoom sessions over the course of 10 weeks over Zoom.

Screening and Informed Consent

It all starts with an introduction and screening. Our aim is to ensure that DELIGHT is a good fit for the participant. Following a successful screening, participants review the informed consent with our clinical exercise physiologist to ensure they are aware of everything that is involved with DELIGHT.

Completing Questionnaires

Participants complete a series of questionnaires over Zoom with our research assistant. The research assistant will ask the questions verbally and will record the responses electronically on his/her end.

Completing Movement Assessment

Participants complete a short movement assessment over Zoom with our clinical exercise physiologist.

Receiving DELIGHT Booklet and Exercise Resistance Bands

Participants receive a package containing three exercise resistance bands and the program booklet. The resistance bands are used during the exercise portion. The program booklet includes fact sheets on topics that are discussed in the social educational portion of the program. It also includes healthy recipes that participants are welcome to try out.

Participating in the 8-week Program

Participants need to attend two 90-minute sessions per week over the 8-week period over Zoom.

Completing Questionnaires

Participants complete the same questionnaires over Zoom as they did prior to their participation in the program.

Completing Movement Assessment

Participants complete the same movement assessment over Zoom as they did prior to their participation in the program.

Providing Feedback through Semi-structured Interview

Participants are asked about their experience, likes, dislikes, thoughts, and feedback about the program.