Good Life Feasibility Study

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Feasibility study of a post-diagnostic peer-led dementia course: Addressing uncertainties for a randomised controlled trial of the Good Life course

  • IRAS ID

    356285

  • Contact name

    Kate Gridley

  • Contact email

    kate.gridley@york.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    University of York

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    2 years, 2 months, 31 days

  • Research summary

    Upon receiving a diagnosis of dementia many people do not know where to go for information and support. The Good Life with Dementia course is a post-diagnostic community course which is co-produced by people with dementia for people with dementia. It provides weekly structured support over 6 weeks, co-facilitated by a professional tutor and peer-tutors with dementia. We currently do not know whether the Good Life course benefits the people who attend it, so we plan to conduct a feasibility trial.
    We will involve people with dementia and other stakeholders throughout this project. Two co-applicants for this study are experts by experience and have been involved from the development of the research proposal and will continue to be involved in the management of the project, data analysis and dissemination of the findings. Prior to the feasibility trial starting we are working with a wide range of stakeholders to develop a manual and training for the Good Life course, this will help us to ensure consistency and inclusivity across different community settings. The professional tutors will then attend training focussing on co-creating/co-production and delivering the course with peer tutors.
    The trial will run in 3 different settings across England. One of the dedicated settings to run the course is in a South Asian community organisation.
    Participants recruited through memory services, GP practices, and community organisations will be randomly assigned to either attend a Good Life course or continue to receive usual post-diagnostic care on a 2:1 ratio. We will test potential outcome measures, demographic and service use data collection approaches for feasibility at three time points: baseline, post-course and 6-months post-baseline.
    The study will test the feasibility of implementing the newly manualised intervention in community settings. We will interview some participants, their carers and the staff involved about the acceptability and inclusivity of the study design and intervention implementation.

  • REC name

    Social Care REC

  • REC reference

    25/IEC08/0032

  • Date of REC Opinion

    30 Oct 2025

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion