‘Dementia-friendly communities’ and being dementia friendly in healthcare settings

Abstract

Purpose of review This review discusses the concept of ‘dementia-friendly communities’ and summarizes the latest research and practice around such communities. This review also highlights important topic areas to be considered to promote dementia friendliness in healthcare settings. Recent findings Definitions of ‘dementia-friendly communities’ reflect the contemporary thinking of living with dementia (e.g., dementia as a disability, equal human rights, a sense of meaning). Existing research has covered a wide range of topic areas relevant to ‘dementia-friendly communities’. However, these studies remain qualitative and exploratory by nature and do not evaluate how dementia-friendly communities impact health and quality of life of people living with dementia and their caregivers. In healthcare settings, being dementia friendly can mean the inclusion of people with dementia in treatment discussion and decision-making, as well as the provision of first, adequate and appropriate service to people with dementia at an equivalent standard of any patient, second, person-centered care, and third, a physical environment following dementia-friendly design guidelines. Summary Research incorporating more robust study designs to evaluate dementia-friendly communities is needed. Being dementia-friendly in healthcare settings requires improvement in multiple areas – some may be achieved by environmental modifications while others may be improved by staff education.

Ecological relationship between social capital and cognitive decline in Japan: A preliminary study for dementia‐friendly communities

“…Furthermore, this association was stronger when the proportion of women with cognitive decline was set as an outcome, compared with men. To date, a great deal of previous research examining DFC has been conceptual rather than empirical . Quantitative evidence examining whether DFC enable people with dementia and their carers to continue to stay in their residential communities is still sparse.…”

“…Consequently, monitoring community‐level outcomes is important, and further understanding of the ecological relationship between community social capital and the effectiveness of DFC could be valuable for designing policy‐making initiatives in the future. However, although an increasingly broad consensus exists regarding the importance of DFC in the literature and public awareness, there is currently a lack of quantitative evidence regarding the effectiveness of DFC, including their relationship with community social capital …”

The place for dementia‐friendly communities in England and its relationship with epidemiological need

“…Thus far, much of the research examining DFCs has been conceptual rather than empirical. This examination of provision and epidemiological need and the wider DEMCOM study currently underway is an attempt to address that gap. The United Kingdom and Japan are the only two countries with a formal nationwide programme of targeting communities to enable people with dementia to live active and integrated lives within them .…”

“…In England, the Prime Minister's Challenge on Dementia 2020 has called for an increase in the number of DFCs . There is a lack of research investigating effectiveness of DFCs, although within the literature a broad consensus exists about the importance of the role DFCs play in raising awareness about and promoting participation among people with dementia . However, there is no single agreed model of what a DFC is, and definitions of “community” and “dementia‐friendly” vary greatly .…”

Modest Insight into the Public Level of Knowledge of Dementia-Friendly City in Slovenia

“…We will consider the needs of PWD when developing all services, not just health and care services [27].…”