Communication training programmes for informal caregivers of people living with dementia: A systematic review

Current research suggests that communication training programmes for caregivers of people living with dementia can benefit both parties by improving communication, quality of life and stress. Previous reviews in this area focus on mixed samples of formal and informal caregivers. This review aimed to evaluate current research for trainings specifically for informal caregivers, including the research quality and the key training components.

The review followed the PRISMA research reporting checklist. The electronic databases CINAHL, Embase, Medline and Psychinfo and reference lists of included literature were searched for studies relevant to the aims. Of the 45 identified studies, 36 were excluded based on pre-specified criteria. Nine studies were included in the final review and subject to quality appraisal using the Qualsyst tool.

The included studies' programmes averaged 5 to 6 hours in length over four to five sessions, were mostly face to face in both group and individual settings and were developed using various communication and psychological theories. Studies demonstrated variable quality and outcomes, making it difficult to identify optimal components. However, careful consideration of different factors enabled some suggestions for training dose, delivery method, content and outcomes to measure.

Communication training programmes can benefit people living with dementia and their informal caregivers in outcomes such as communication skills and quality of life. Suggestions are made on the training components that optimise these benefits.

Given the clear benefits on outcomes such as quality of life, there is a need for communication trainings to be offered in clinical contexts. However, given the limited pool of variable quality research and lack of accessible manuals, it is unlikely that this is the case. Consolidating and widening the evidence through further research is essential in making these trainings more widely available.