Evaluation of Dementia-Friendly Initiatives, Small-Scale Homelike Residential Care, and Dementia Village Models: A Scoping Review.

Abstract

Numerous initiatives are emerging to improve the care management of persons suffering from Alzheimer's disease or related disorders (ADRD). The aim of this review is to identify research evaluations of initiatives in long-term care facilities and those making society more inclusive. Scoping review with systematic search of PubMed. Reviewed articles focused on the impact of (1) dementia-friendly initiatives (DFIs), (2) small-scale homelike (SSHL) facilities, and (3) dementia/Alzheimer villages. The intervention targets people (or their carers) with dementia or cognitive impairment. A scoping review was performed on PubMed, including papers published up to November 2022. Further hand-searching from reference lists and the gray literature was carried out. A total of 477 articles were identified initially, and finally 12 more specifically related to the impact of DFI (n= 4) and SSHL facilities (n= 8) were selected. They included preliminary effectiveness analyses on DFI-related training and awareness intervention and comparative studies on an SSHL model. Scarce but promising results were found on the physical functioning, social participation, and quality of life for older adults living in SSHL facilities compared to those living in conventional nursing homes. No quantitative evaluation on dementia villages was published. The article highlights the lack of studies providing data on the efficacy of such innovative facilities on clinical, economic, and social outcomes. Such data are essential to better characterize these models and assess their potential efficiency and reproducibility.