Background Person-centered care has been shown to increase desired outcomes for people with dementia, yet informal caregivers’ dissatisfaction with care is often reported. For those living in a nursing home, informal caregivers are uniquely situated to provide key insights into the individual’s care. However, little is known of the informal caregivers’ perspective, which hinders efforts to improve their satisfaction with person-centered nursing home care. Thus, we examined the comprehensive experiences, priorities, and perceptions of informal caregivers of nursing home residents with dementia. Methods In collaboration with stakeholders, a scoping review of Medline (Ovid), EMBASE.com , CINAHL (EBSCO), the Cochrane Library (Wiley), and PsycINFO (Ovid) databases from January 2000 to July 2020 was conducted. Data were extracted reflecting the experiences, priorities, and preferences of caregivers of people with dementia residing in nursing homes. Results We identified 114 articles that revealed nine themes: (1) communication, (2) transition to nursing home, (3) quality of care, (4) quality of life, (5) informal caregiver role, (6) knowledge of dementia, (7) end-of-life preferences, (8) medication use to manage neuropsychiatric behaviors, and (9) finances. Conclusion Informal caregivers described aspects of care that led to both positive and negative experiences with and perceptions of nursing home care. The shortcomings in communication were discussed most frequently, indicating a high priority area. While researchers define the identified themes individually, informal caregivers perceive them to be interwoven as they relate to person-centered care delivery. Although we did not assess the quality of included articles, by identifying themes relevant to caregivers’ perspectives of nursing home care, our findings may help to inform efforts to optimize caregivers’ satisfaction with nursing home care for residents with dementia.

Informal caregivers are critical stakeholders in nursing home (NH) care for individuals with dementia. Given racial and ethnic disparities in United States NHs, there is a need to understand informal caregivers’ perspectives, particularly among those that identify as members of a community of color. We conducted a scoping review of informal caregiver priorities of nursing home dementia care. Included studies exclusively examined priorities of informal caregivers identifying as Black, Indigenous, or people of color. The final sample (n=12) included two United States studies representing African American and Korean informal caregivers. The remaining studies were conducted in other countries. Informal caregivers expressed a desire for professional support during the nursing home transition, increased staff knowledge of dementia, and improved resident engagement. These findings highlight the paucity of informal caregivers identifying as Black, Indigenous, or people of color represented in US nursing home dementia research. Future efforts must include communities of color.