It is essential to understand the experience of living with dementia from the perspective of the person with dementia so that services can be appropriately constructed. This review paper, drawing on prior work, identifies key strategies for the meaningful inclusion of persons with dementia within qualitative research studies, it examines the articulation of these strategies and shares how these strategies were operationalised within one national research study in Ireland. Strategies within the literature were categorised and then synthesized into a guide consisting of four main areas; gaining COnsent, maximizing Responses, Telling the story, and Ending on a high (CORTE). The CORTE guideline was used to as a tool for analysing relevant research reports. CORTE is a synthesized account of grouped strategies that could be used to maximize the meaningful involvement of persons with dementia and can also provide a guide for reporting the strategies used so that researchers can learn from each other.

This study found that reminiscence enhanced the experience of living in long-term care for residents with dementia and working in long-term care settings for staff.

This paper is a report of an analysis of the concept of reminiscence in dementia and highlights its uses as a therapeutic intervention used on individuals with dementia. No single definition of reminiscence exists in healthcare literature; however, definitions offered have similar components. The term life review is commonly used when discussing reminiscence; however, both terms are quite different in their goals, theory base and content. This concept analysis identified reminiscence as a process which occurs in stages, involving the recalling of early life events and interaction between individuals. The antecedents of reminiscence are age, life transitions, attention span, ability to recall, ability to vocalise and stressful situations. Reminiscence can lead to positive mental health, enhanced self esteem and improved communication skills. It also facilitates preparation for death, increases interaction between people, prepares for the future and evaluates a past life. Reminiscence therapy is used extensively in dementia care and evidence shows when used effectively it helps individuals retain a sense of self worth, identity and individuality.

Reminiscence may, in certain circumstances, be an effective care option for people with dementia in long-stay settings with potential to impact positively on the quality of life of residents.

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Background Population ageing is increasing rapidly worldwide. Older adults are frequent users of health care services including the Emergency Department (ED) and experience a number of adverse outcomes following an ED visit. Adverse outcomes include functional decline, unplanned hospital admission and an ED revisit. Given these adverse outcomes a number of interventions have been examined to improve the outcomes of older adults following presentation to the ED. The aim of this umbrella review was to evaluate the effectiveness of ED interventions in reducing adverse outcomes in older adults discharged from the ED. Methods Systematic reviews of randomised controlled trials investigating ED interventions for older adults presenting to the ED exploring clinical, patient experience and healthcare utilisation outcomes were included. A comprehensive search strategy was employed in eleven databases and the PROSPERO register up until June 2020. Grey literature was also searched. Quality was assessed using the A MeaSurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews 2 tool. Overlap between systematic reviews was assessed using a matrix of evidence table. An algorithm to assign the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation to assess the strength of evidence was applied for all outcomes. Results Nine systematic reviews including 29 randomised controlled trials were included. Interventions comprised of solely ED-based or transitional interventions. The specific interventions delivered were highly variable. There was high overlap and low methodological quality of the trials informing the systematic reviews. There is low quality evidence to support ED interventions in reducing functional decline, improving patient experience and improving quality of life. The quality of evidence of the effectiveness of ED interventions to reduce mortality and ED revisits varied from very low to moderate. Results were presented narratively and summary of evidence tables created. Conclusion Older adults are the most important emerging group in healthcare for several economic, social and political reasons. The existing evidence for the effectiveness of ED interventions for older adults is limited. This umbrella review highlights the challenge of synthesising evidence due to significant heterogeneity in methods, intervention content and reporting of outcomes. Higher quality intervention studies in line with current geriatric medicine research guidelines are recommended, rather than the publication of further systematic reviews. Trial registration UMBRELLA REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO (CRD42020145315).

Two groups of care-givers to dementia sufferers were interviewed to assess their psychological symptoms and the behaviour problems of the dementia sufferers. The first group were using special dementia day care while the second group were about to begin using it. The second group were re-interviewed three months later. Therefore two comparisons could be made; a with/without day care comparison and a before/after admission to day care comparison. Care-givers had a high level of psychological symptoms which were not significantly reduced by using day care. Full-time institutional care did reduce distress. Day centre clients continued to deteriorate as would be expected with a degenerative condition. While special dementia day care centres appear to play a useful role for many care-givers, they may provide too few hours relief per week to markedly reduce the care-givers' psychological symptoms. Family care-givers currently take the major role in caring for dementia sufferers in the community and the burden of care needs to be shared more equitably.