Health promotion initiative: A dementia-friendly local community in Sweden

Abstract

Dementia is a great public health concern worldwide. Despite this, little is known from a health-promoting perspective about dementia in general as a public health issue, in dialog with people living with dementia, applicable at individual, group, and societal levels with regard to policies and practice. This study therefore aims to explore the experiences related to living with dementia in the local community by advancing a health-promoting perspective. Semi-structured individual and group interviews were conducted with participants ( n = 22) with lived, professional, and personal experiences of dementia living in a medium-sized municipality in Sweden. Transcripts were analyzed by thematic analysis. Four themes emerged: health promotion through knowledge and public awareness, health promotion through opportunities to be active, health promotion through meaningful meeting places, and health promotion through improvements in the welfare system. We found that more knowledge and public awareness about dementia are needed to advance a health-promoting perspective and increase the prominence of dementia as a public health issue. Further research and policy need to focus more on how professionals in dementia care practice could be involved in promoting health and well-being for people with dementia.

Creating a Dementia Friendly Community in an African American Neighborhood: Perspectives of People Living with Dementia, Care Partners, Stakeholders, and Community Residents

“…The recommendation for community education was endorsed as a priority across community sectors. This aligns with what has been reported in other dementia friendly projects, which describe community education as a helpful tool to shape perceptions and attitudes toward ADRD (Odzakovic et al, 2021; Phillipson et al, 2019). Ebert et al (2020) report that combining personhood-based knowledge about ADRD (e.g., “people with dementia can feel when others are kind to them”) with biomedical knowledge about the disease can help people feel more comfortable interacting with PLwD which, in turn, contributes to greater overall awareness and knowledge about dementia (Ebert et al, 2020; Novak et al, 2020).…”

Inovação Social Na População Com Demência: Projeto Memorizar. Um Caso Português

“…Impõe-se a construção de uma rede de suporte social significativa e gratificante, capaz de exercer suporte social (Nordenfelt, 2017;WHO, 2012). Tal como nos diz Odzakovic et al (2021), é fundamental para a adequação da intervenção, focar não só os sintomas e dificuldades individuais inerentes à doença, mas sobretudo, focar também os recursos, nas dificuldades específicas e o contexto onde a pessoa com demência e sua família estão inseridos. Isto é, há a necessidade de uma reestruturação dos recursos e estratégias na intervenção em pessoas com demência, para que estas possam ser menos estigmatizadas e poderem ter uma melhor qualidade de vida na comunidade onde vivem, tal como nos dizem Keady et al (2012) e Swaffer (2014).…”

Disrupted Intercorporeality and Embodiedness in Dementia Care during the COVID-19 Crisis

“…Where social context is "benign," neurological impairment can be mitigated by positive interaction, such that it becomes possible for the person with dementia to make sense of herself and her surrounding world as much as possible, and thus retain a sense of well-being, self, and personhood. A "malignant" social context (e.g., an isolating or monotonous one) triggers stress and might contribute to structural changes in the brain and behavior, while a "benign" social context-coupled with an enriched environment-might even facilitate some regeneration (WHO 2018;Odzakovic et al 2021). In Kitwood's model, the central implication is the need for high-quality interpersonal care that affirms personhood.…”

“…Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia, accounting for approximately 60-70% of cases. 2 For phenomenological descriptions and empirical findings of dignified dementia care, see Kontos (2011;, Odzakovic (2021), Leibing and Lawrence (2006), or Dzwiza-Ohlsen (2021).…”