Methodologies and methods for the development, evaluation and implementation of psychosocial interventions for dementia: protocol for a scoping review

Introduction Research on psychosocial interventions for dementia demonstrates increased rigour and robustness. However, if we are to influence practice, beyond results from randomised controlled trials, a variety of types and sources of evidence is needed.

The Medical Research Council (MRC) framework offers a valuable guide for developing, evaluating and implementing complex interventions, to facilitate integration of research into practice. There is limited knowledge of how researchers design, evaluate and implement psychosocial intervention studies in dementia, using the MRC framework.

This scoping review aims to: (1) identify the methodological and methods trends, use and gaps in the development, evaluation and implementation of psychosocial interventions for dementia, and (2) determine if and how the MRC six core elements were considered and applied in studies. Methods and analysis Six databases (Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Web of Science, Cochrane Library) will be searched for studies published from 2015 (when MRC process guidance was published) to 2025.

Identified deduplicated citations will be imported into Covidence software, where up to 40% of title/abstracts will be double screened by independent reviewers.