Non-Clinically Trained Facilitators’ Experiences of Remote Psychosocial Interventions for Older Adults with Memory Loss and their Family Carers

ObjectivesWe aimed to explore how non-clinically trained facilitators experienced delivering remote video-call and telephone, one-to-one and group-based psychosocial interventions with older adults with memory loss and their family carers, under training and supervision.MethodsWe conducted a secondary thematic analysis of qualitative interviews with non-clinically trained facilitators, employed by Universities, NHS and the third-sector. Participants had facilitated either of two manualised interventions; the APPLE-Tree group dementia prevention for people with mild memory loss; or NIDUS-Family dyadic intervention for people living with dementia and their family carers.ResultsThe overarching theme of building confidence in developing therapeutic relationships was explained using subthemes that described the roles of: learning by experience (subtheme 1); developing clinical skills (subtheme 2); peer support (subtheme 3) in enabling this process; and remote delivery as a potential barrier to it (subtheme 4). ConclusionNon-clinically trained facilitators can have a positive experience delivering psychosocial interventions with older adults. Gaps in life experience between clients and younger facilitators could compound initial feelings of being ‘in at the deep end’ and fears of being ‘exposed’ as lacking expertise in the intervention area. These fears were allayed by experiences of positive therapeutic relationships and outcomes for clients, and by growing confidence at the usefulness of their work as a non-expert facilitator. For this to happen, teams need to ensure appropriate support (including peer support), training and supervision is in place, and that these need to account for the challenging contexts of remote delivery.