Table 7 Promising interventions that are presently unproven, but that warrant early reassessment in high quality and well powered RCTs^a

Increase weight and/or BMI

o Eating meals with care-givers eating alongside (Charras)

o Soothing mealtime music (Wong 2008)

o Glass-door fridge with constantly accessible snacks and additional time for meals (Wong)

o Extensive staff education and support (Mamhidir) – though smaller amounts of support are not so promising

o Education and support for informal care-givers of people with dementia (Riviere and Hanson)

o Spaced retrieval and Montessori activities (Wu 2013)

o Multicomponent intervention including chocolate supplements, gratin diet, exercise and oral hygiene twice weekly (Beck)

o Multicomponent intervention including enhanced menu, more dietetic time, increased nutritional awareness and communication (Keller)

Improve hydration

o No very encouraging interventions found

Supporting meaningful engagement with food and/or drink

o Eating with care-givers (Charras)

o Family style meals for people with dementia, enhanced further by staff training (Altus)

o Extensive staff education and support (Mamhidir)

o Facilitated breakfast club with supported involvement in preparing, conversing, eating and clearing up (San Pietro)

o Multisensory exercise (focussed on attention, flexibility, aerobic exercise, strength training, relaxation & breathing techniques, Hayn)

Quality of life

o Reminiscence cooking sessions (Huang 2009)

o Appropriate, particularly familiar, music during meals (Thomas, Ragneskog)

o Tailored nutritional training to people with AD and their spouses (Suominen 2013)

Supporting eating independence

o Directed verbal prompts and positive reinforcement, systematic prompting, cueing and behavioural guidance (Coyne, Van Ort)

o Spaced retrieval (Lin 2010)

o Montessori activities (Lin 2010, 2011)

o Adapted tai-chi (Dechamps 2010)

o Cognition action (light to moderate intensity seated exercises, Dechamps 2010)

Quantity, quality or adequacy of food or fluid intake

o Bulk food service (rather than pre-plated or tray service, Desai, Shatenstein)

o Pop music during meals (Ragneskog)

o Some lighting and contrast interventions to improve visual cues (Brush 2002, Dunne)

o Encouragement of eating through gentle touch (Eaton)

o Physical activity to familiar music (Moore)

o High intensity exercise (FICSIT)