A co-designed brief training programme to support recognition of depression in people living with dementia: a feasibility study.

BACKGROUND: Depression is common in people living with dementia but is frequently under-recognised. Brief, scalable training for professional carers may provide one approach to supporting recognition. AIMS: To co-design and assess the feasibility of a brief training programme for professional carers to support recognition of depression in people living with dementia. DESIGN: Exploratory mixed-methods feasibility study. METHODS: A co-designed training programme was delivered to 29 community-based professional carers. Participants completed pre- and post-training online questionnaires assessing awareness and confidence. Feedback on acceptability was obtained through self-report questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Quantitative data were analysed using paired t-tests and qualitative data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. RESULTS: The training was generally viewed as acceptable. Findings indicated the training could be delivered and evaluated within community-based services. Barriers to applying learning included workforce capacity and diagnostic complexity. Improvements were observed in self-reported overall awareness (Cohen's d = 1.16) and confidence (Cohen's d = 0.81) at follow-up. Qualitative findings indicated increased awareness and confidence, while highlighting the importance of organisational support and accessible referral pathways. CONCLUSIONS: Findings support the feasibility of the training programme, with preliminary evidence for improvements in awareness and confidence. Further larger-scale evaluation including objective indicators of recognition is needed to assess effectiveness and impact.