Quality of life for people living in the community with dementia from the perspectives of people with dementia, family members’ and healthcare professionals’

Purpose: Perceptions of quality of Life (QoL) for people living with dementia can vary. A critique of the relevant literature was conducted to find out what is known about peoples’ perceptions of QoL of people living with early stage dementia?
Method: Relevant databases were searched and hand searches were used to identify primary studies on ‘quality of life’ and ‘dementia’ and ‘perceptions’.
Findings: There is a variety of influencing factors on QoL for PWD that cover biological, psychological and social influences. These are valued differently by proxy and subjective views. Self-reports tended to rate their QoL higher than the carer perceptions’ of QoL. The carers focussed on neuropsychiatric symptoms which were sometimes linked to carer burden. PWD tended to focus on the loss of friendship, relationships with carers, mood, stigma and other health conditions.
Research implications: Young people with dementia and the perspectives of healthcare professionals [HCP] working with PWD in community settings are underrepresented.
Practical implications: The studies showed important indicators of QoL for PWD. These cover social and psychological as well as biological factors. The condition of dementia is not the only indicator of QoL, regardless of whose perspective it comes from.
Keywords: Quality of life, dementia, perspectives