Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: Jul 1, 2026
Open Peer Review Period: Jul 3, 2026 - Jul 14, 2026
Date Accepted: Aug 31, 2026
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Protocol for the Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial of Resilient Together for Dementia: A Dyadic Intervention for Persons with Dementia and their Partners Early After Diagnosis
ABSTRACT
Background:
Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRDs) can impact emotional distress and individual and relational health among persons living with dementia and their romantic partners. There are limited skills-based interventions that can help couples build resilience while navigating dementia-related challenges.
Objective:
We aim to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary signal of improvement of Resilient Together for Dementia (RT-ADRD), a novel dyadic skills-based intervention aimed at preventing chronic emotional distress early after diagnosis.
Methods:
Couples are randomized to complete either: 1) six weekly conjoint intervention sessions of RT-ADRD; or 2) a minimally enhanced usual care (MEUC) condition involving a self-guided pamphlet. Both partners must demonstrate capacity to consent to research participation, and at least one partner must exhibit clinically elevated emotional distress. Partners living with dementia must have received their diagnosis in the past 6 months. Participants complete baseline and post-test assessments of resiliency skills, emotional distress, relationship functioning, and quality of life, and treatment satisfaction at post-test only.
Results:
We will continue the trial until N=40 couples (80 individuals) are randomized and complete post-test assessments.
Conclusions:
This study will gather comprehensive information on the feasibility and acceptability of RT-ADRD relative to MEUC and assess preliminary signal of improvement on proximal outcomes. Findings will directly inform plans for a larger efficacy trial. Data collection is currently under way, and study completion is expected by late-2026. Clinical Trial: This study is approved by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Independent Review Board and was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT06619327) on 09/2/2024).
Citation
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Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.