Collaboration for Developing and Sustaining Community Dementia-Friendly Initiatives: A Realist Evaluation

Marjolein Thijssen (), Maud J. L. Graff, Monique A. S. Lexis, Maria W. G. Nijhuis- van der Sanden, Kate Radford, Pip A. Logan, Ramon Daniels and Wietske Kuijer-Siebelink
Additional contact information
Marjolein Thijssen: Radboud University Medical Center, Radboudumc Research Institute, Scientific Center for Quality of Healthcare (IQ Healthcare), 6525 GA Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Maud J. L. Graff: Radboud University Medical Center, Radboudumc Research Institute, Scientific Center for Quality of Healthcare (IQ Healthcare), 6525 GA Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Monique A. S. Lexis: Research Centre Assistive Technology in Care, Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, 6419 DJ Heerlen, The Netherlands
Maria W. G. Nijhuis- van der Sanden: Radboud University Medical Center, Radboudumc Research Institute, Scientific Center for Quality of Healthcare (IQ Healthcare), 6525 GA Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Kate Radford: Centre for Rehabilitation and Ageing Research, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2TU, UK
Pip A. Logan: Centre for Rehabilitation and Ageing Research, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2TU, UK
Ramon Daniels: Research Centre Assistive Technology in Care, Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, 6419 DJ Heerlen, The Netherlands
Wietske Kuijer-Siebelink: School of Education, HAN University of Applied Sciences, 6525 EN Nijmegen, The Netherlands

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 5, 1-24

Abstract: Background: Dementia-friendly communities (DFCs) are seen as key to the inclusion and participation of people with dementia and carers. Dementia-friendly initiatives (DFIs) are important building blocks for the growth of DFCs. The collaboration between different stakeholders is a central aspect in developing and sustaining DFIs. Aim: This study tests and refines an initial theory about collaborating for DFIs with special attention for the involvement of people with dementia and their carers during the collaboration for DFIs. The realist approach is used for deepening contextual aspects, mechanisms, outcomes, and its explanatory power. Methods: A participatory case study design using qualitative data (focus groups, observations, reflections, minutes from meetings, and exit interviews) was executed in four Dutch municipalities that have ambitions to become dementia- friendly communities. Results: The refined theory on the collaboration for DFIs incorporates contextual aspects such as diversity, shared insights, and clarity. It draws attention to the importance of mechanisms such as the recognition of efforts and progress, informal distributed leadership, interdependency, belonging, significance, and commitment. These mechanisms resonate with feeling useful and feeling collectively powerful in the collaboration. The outcomes of collaboration were activation, getting new ideas, and fun. Our findings address how stakeholders’ routines and perspectives impact the involvement of people with dementia and their carers during collaboration. Conclusion: This study provides detailed information about collaboration for DFIs. The collaboration for DFIs is largely influenced by feeling useful and collectively powerful. Further research is needed to understand how these mechanisms can be triggered with the involvement of people with dementia and their carers in the heart of the collaboration.

Keywords: collaboration; dementia-friendly; inclusion; realist evaluation; patient and public involvement; inequity; social participation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/5/4006/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/5/4006/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:5:p:4006-:d:1078338

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().