Objectives

To evaluate the feasibility, facilitators of and barriers to delivering Namaste Care by volunteers and family carers to community-dwelling people with dementia, and to map family carers and volunteers’ experiences with the programme.

Design

Qualitative interview study with two phases: (1) preparation phase; (2) pilot phase.

Setting

Private residences of community-dwelling people with dementia in the UK and the Netherlands.

Participants

Family carers and volunteers of community-dwelling people with dementia (phase 1: 36 Dutch interviews, phase 2: 9 Dutch and 16 UK interviews).

Intervention

Namaste Care is a multicomponent psychosocial programme, originally developed for people with dementia residing in long-term care facilities. Meaningful activities were offered by carers and volunteers. Each person with dementia was offered 10 one-hour sessions.

Results

Phase 1: Namaste Care was deemed feasible for community-dwelling people with dementia and no major adaptations to the programme were considered necessary. Phase 2: perceived effects of Namaste Care on people with dementia included improved mood and increased interaction. The programme appeared enriching for both family carers and volunteers, providing joy, respite from care and new insights for coping with challenging behaviour. A flexible attitude of the Namaste provider facilitated its delivery. High caregiver burden and a strained relationship between the family carer and person with dementia were considered barriers. Experiences of family carers and volunteers with Namaste Care were very positive (mean satisfaction rating: 8.7 out of 10, SD=0.9, range 7-10).

Conclusion

We recommend offering Namaste Care delivered by volunteers, preferably multiple sessions per week of 1.5-2 hours to optimise quality of life of community-dwelling people with dementia. Working with well-matched, flexible Namaste providers is pivotal. Family involvement should be encouraged, although the extent should be adapted depending on preference, caregiver burden and the relationship between the family carer and the person with dementia.

Trial registration number

NL5570.

© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.