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Due to the increasing incidence of dementia in Ireland, there is a need to prepare occupational therapy students for future careers in dementia-focused health care. The purpose of this study are to measure the knowledge and attitudes of Irish undergraduate occupational therapy students towards older people with dementia and examine related variables including year of study, personal and placement dementia experiences and future career choice.

Data was gathered using a cross-sectional online survey, incorporating the Alzheimer’s Disease Knowledge Scale and the Dementia Attitudes Scale, which was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics.

Seventy-five responses were gathered and analysed, indicating more advanced occupational therapy students demonstrate higher levels of dementia knowledge, but dementia attitudes remain similar across different year groups. Students with clinical dementia experiences displayed comparable levels of dementia knowledge and attitudes to those without. However, students with familial dementia experiences displayed significantly more positive attitudes. The likelihood of selecting a future career with older adults with dementia significantly related to students’ positive dementia attitudes but not dementia knowledge.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first Irish study that focuses on undergraduate occupational therapy students’ dementia knowledge and attitudes. The results could be used to inform and develop Irish undergraduate occupational therapy programmes.

Exploring subjective experiences of people living with dementia through qualitative research has become increasingly common in recent decades. Nonetheless, researchers have shared a number of ethical challenges in involving people living with dementia in research. A concept that has been influential in discussions about ethics within the field of dementia care, in particular, is person-centredness. A person-centred approach reflects values of respect for personhood and the rights of a person and of building mutual trust and understanding. This chapter presents my experience of adopting person-centred ethical practices in a sensory ethnographic study involving older adults living with dementia. I highlight person-centred ethical considerations at the design stage of my study and occasions during the conduct of my research when research methods and processes were adapted to further meet the needs of the participants. A person-centred approach required that I continually assessed the need to make ethical decisions in every aspect of the research process throughout its duration. Building and drawing on positive researcher–participant relationships to inform those decisions and an adaptable research design allowing research practices to be adapted in situ were therefore essential.

The purpose of this paper is to present the views of people living with dementia in extra care housing (ECH). This is a model of housing with care and support aiming to support older people, including those with dementia, to live independently. Previous research identifies benefits but is predominantly derived from third-party accounts, with the voices of those living with dementia in ECH significantly absent.

This study adopted a qualitative approach conducting 100 interviews across 8 ECH schemes in England. Over half of the interviews were conducted with people living with dementia and their families with the remainder involving staff and commissioners.

Findings suggest there are a range of benefits including owning your own home, having a safe, age friendly location with flexible support, social interaction and continuing to live as a couple. Challenges included availability of staff, flexible resourcing, loneliness and the advancing symptoms of dementia.

Despite efforts to create an inclusive, diverse sample, the participants were all White British. Participants involved were identified by gatekeepers, which may present some bias in the selection.

Whilst ECH offers benefits to people living with dementia, addressing the challenges is essential for effective dementia care. Improving staff training, promoting person-centred care and fostering an inclusive community are critical for enhancing residents’ well-being and quality of life.

This paper explored the lived experiences of residents and family members, providing new insight into the advantages and disadvantages of ECH for people living with dementia.

The demand for long-term home care services has been increasing in Taiwan due to the significant growth of the older population. In order to understand the crucial roles that language and communication play in providing better long-term home care services in Taiwan, this study aims to adopt a gerontological sociolinguistic perspective to investigate how professional care workers communicate with older people in this context.

Interviews were conducted with 58 long-term home care workers to identify their communication accommodation strategies for older people, considering their health conditions (dementia), personalities (grumpiness), living status (loneliness) and general principles of long-term home care communication.

The study's findings provide practical insights for long-term home care workers to enhance their communication skills while interacting with older people.

The results could contribute to improving the quality of care services provided to older people and address their specific communication needs.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this paper is the first attempt to identify contextually specific communication accommodations to older people in existing literature of gerontological sociolinguistics that addresses language, communication and older age. The salience of the findings in this study can be further enhanced if they were applied in the development of training programs for future Taiwanese long-term home care workers.

The purpose of this paper is to report on a scoping review of the advantages and challenges of extra care housing (ECH) provision in the UK for people living with dementia. Access to suitable housing is a fundamental right for people living with dementia and can enable people to live as well as possible (Twyford and Porteus, 2021). Understanding the advantages and disadvantages of different models of housing with care has been identified as a research priority by people living with dementia (Barrett et al., 2016) but “there is no current consensus on the best model of specialist housing for people with dementia” (Twyford and Porteus, 2021, p. 29).

This scoping review identifies the advantages and disadvantages of living in ECH for people with dementia. It is the preliminary stage of a study that seeks to develop knowledge about different models of ECH for people living with dementia (Atkinson et al., 2021).

Advantages include the promotion of independence, flexible staffing, safety and security, social inclusion, physical design and integrated service provision. Disadvantages include barriers to entry, tensions between independence and support, managing advanced dementia, resourcing flexible care, managing social exclusion, loneliness and stigma and a disabling environment.

The scoping review reinforces the need for further research into different models of ECH provision in the UK for people living with dementia. The review provides insight that is of benefit to all stakeholders involved in ECH and contributes to the development of evidence-based provision called for in the recent All Party Parliamentary Group inquiry (Twyford and Porteus, 2021).

This scoping review summarises the current position for people living with dementia in ECH.

Dementia is characterized by the progressive decline in cognitive and daily functioning. Although the decline is often the defining characteristic of dementia in biomedical models, several scholars highlight the preserved skills of persons with dementia. Identity, or a sense of self, is among the areas relatively preserved in the later stages of dementia. It is the window through which caregivers understand the subjective experiences of persons with dementia.

This qualitative exploratory study highlights the value of social relationships, particularly the role of the Filipino family in recognizing personhood and maintaining identity in dementia care. Preserving identity entails understanding the person’s unique characteristics that reflect one’s sense of self. In a highly collectivistic culture, such as the Philippines, the family is crucial to preserving identity and overall well-being in dementia. This study explores the perspectives of 15 Filipino caregivers as regards caring for a family member with dementia. Participants discuss changes in family structure and the challenges in dementia care. More importantly, they delve into strategies used to preserve identity and encourage life participation in their loved one with dementia. Essential Filipino cultural values in dementia care, such as collectivism, religion, and the values of filial piety and utang na loob (or debt of gratitude) are further discussed.

This paper aims to showcase an innovative programme of physical activity and sport to enhance the health and well-being of people with Young Onset Dementia (YOD). It is hoped that this will inspire similar collaborations between day and activity centres and exercise/sports facilities.

A case study of a collaborative programme between Peaceful Place, a day service for people with YOD and Sport for Confidence in Essex. It draws upon the observations and reflective accounts of those implementing the programme.

People with YOD chose and engaged in a range of physical activities and sports, resulting in increased fitness, flexibility and mobility. There were improvements in memory, cognition for some and reductions in anxiety and depression for most. The main benefits were fun, enjoyment, confidence, a sense of achievement, self-esteem, improved social interaction and wider relationships. Participants were also motivated to take more exercise, get outdoors and try new challenges and experiences.

Given the predicted rise in people with YOD, this paper offers insight into ways of supporting them to be active physically and socially, thus, improving health, well-being and quality of life.

This paper is the account of professionals deeply involved in all stages of negotiating, consulting, developing, overcoming challenges and implementing the programme.

Current and predicted continued dramatic increases in international migration and ethnocultural diversity of older adult cohorts pose challenges for health care services. Review studies on ethnoculturally diverse older adults and health care show a lack of focus on their service use experiences. This study aims to report a meta-ethnography that addresses this knowledge gap through answering the review question: How do ethnoculturally diverse older adults who are immigrants experience health careservices?

The authors applied a seven-phase method of meta-ethnography to guide the review. The authors conducted two literature searches (April 2018 and June 2020) in MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, Sociological Abstracts and Abstracts in Social Gerontology that yielded 17 papers eligible for review.

“There’s always something positive and something negative” is the overarching metaphor for answering the review question. Findings highlight positive and negative tensions within ethnoculturally diverse older adults’ health care use experiences of understanding and being understood, having trust in providers and the health care system, having needs, preferences and resources met and desire for self-care over dependency. The majority of experiences were negative. Tipping points towards negative experiences included language, fear, provider attitudes and behaviours, service flexibility, attitudes towards Western and traditional health care and having knowledge and resources.

The authors propose concrete actions to mitigate the tipping points. The authors discuss policy recommendations for health care system changes at the micro, meso and macro service levels to promote positive experiences and address mainstream service policy inequities.