Abstract
Globally as the population ages, the prevalence of dementia will increase. Simultaneously, there is a trend toward people ageing at home. Therefore, more people will be ageing at home with dementia, as opposed to institutional environments. In this context, there has been a recent shift in research exploring ways that people can live well with the consequences of the disease. As a part of this emerging research, the social and spatial aspects of the lives of people living with memory problems are becoming increasingly of interest. The aim of this article is to use the concept of activity space to examine the social health of older adults with memory problems and dementia who live at home. Activity space data were collected from seven older adults experiencing memory problems and living at home in the Netherlands. Using a mixed-methods approach, insight into their activity spaces were gained through walking interviews, 14 days of global positioning system (GPS) movement data, travel diary entries and in-depth interviews. The GPS data, travel diary data and interview transcripts were analyzed using a grounded visualization approach. Our findings show that participants interact independently in routine activity spaces but depend on others to participate in occasional activity spaces. Interactions within both these spaces contribute to the social health of older adults with memory problems and dementia who live at home. Additionally, participants used coping strategies and decision-making to maintain autonomy in daily life. The findings can inform dementia-friendly initiatives and social health care planning.
Highlights
As the population ages, the prevalence of dementia will increase
The aim of this article is to use the concept of activity space to examine the social health of older adults with memory problems and dementia who live at home
The aim of this article was to use the concept of activity space to examine the social health of older adults with memory problems and dementia who live at home
Summary
The prevalence of dementia will increase. Simultaneously, there is a trend toward people ageing at home. Communities are becoming more dementia-friendly by adapting practices, such as personcentered care, dementia awareness education and environmental design, to enhance the quality of life people living with dementia (Hebert and Scales, 2017). The foundation of these practices is to sup port people living with dementia to remain autonomous and engaged in society and enhance public awareness of dementia (Cahill, 2020; Førsund et al, 2018). While ageing in place is considered to be the desire of most people with dementia (van der Roest et al, 2009), it is important to note that living at home can present challenges for people with de mentia related to navigating environments outside of their home and social isolation (Gibson et al, 2007; Mitchell and Burton, 2006; Odza kovic et al, 2018)
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