Engagement of people with lived experience of dementia advisory group and cross-cutting program: reflections on the first year

The objective of this paper is to describe the activities, challenges and mitigation strategies, lessons learned and reflections on the importance of engagement from the first year of the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA) Engagement of People with Lived Experience of Dementia (EPLED) Advisory Group and cross-cutting program. EPLED was created to support persons with dementia and care partners to be actively involved in the CCNA research process.The Advisory Group was formed to work with CCNA researchers and programs to develop new ways to further collaborate and advance the methods of patient engagement in research on dementia. A role profile and recruitment poster were developed and, after interviews, 17 people were invited to join the Advisory Group. We planned three online EPLED meetings to take place between July-August of 2020, with one in-person meeting to be held in Canada. Due to COVID-19, we moved all of these meetings online. In the first year, EPLED and the Advisory Group met seven times formally, four times informally, developed a website, engaged with CCNA research projects, participated in CCNA "Central" activities and formulated an evaluation plan. For researchers and people with lived experience of dementia, motivations for patient engagement included challenging stigma, making meaning from their experience (such as building relationships and having their voices heard) and contributing to research. Common challenges to engagement were related to navigating the impact of COVID-19, such as difficulty in getting to know each other and technical issues with video-conference software. We learned that developing trusting relationships, providing education, offering support, being flexible and acknowledging tensions between research, practice and lived experience, were vital to the success of the Advisory Group.The first year of the EPLED Advisory Group demonstrated the potential contributions of people with lived experience of dementia as partners in research. Building these collaborations with individuals and communities-people living with dementia, care partners, researchers and research institutions-has the potential for positive impact across these groups and, ultimately, improve the lives of people living with dementia and their care partners.In this paper, we describe the development of the Canadian Consortium of Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA) Engagement of People with Lived Experience of Dementia (EPLED) cross-cutting program and the first year of the EPLED Advisory Group. EPLED was created to build opportunities for patient engagement in the CCNA’s research on dementia. People living with dementia and current/former friends, family and care partners were recruited from across Canada to join the Advisory Group. In the first year, the Advisory Group met seven times formally, four times informally, developed a website, engaged with CCNA research projects, participated in CCNA “Central” activities and formulated an evaluation plan. Challenges included the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, online meetings, and differing expectations and priorities. Lessons learned and reflections on the importance of engagement are discussed in the context of research on dementia and from the perspectives of researchers and Advisory Group members.