Quality indicators for community dementia care: a systematic review

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Healthcare Quality
• Public Health

Background:

• A significant gap exists in current evidence regarding the development of quality indicators (QIs) for dementia care.
• A comprehensive overview of recent literature on QI development in dementia care is lacking.
• This study aims to systematically review existing literature and provide recommendations for future research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and synthesize recent literature on the development and redefinition of quality indicators (QIs) for dementia care.
• To identify existing QIs and assess their methodological quality.
• To formulate recommendations for improving QI development in dementia care.

Main Methods:

• A systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed, CINAHL, and The Cochrane Library.
• Studies published between 2008 and May 2019 focusing on QI development or redefinition for dementia care were included.
• The search covered the continuum of dementia care from initial symptoms to long-term care admission.

Main Results:

• Seven articles were included, describing a total of 107 QIs.
• Most QIs originated from Europe and focused on care processes across various domains, including screening, assessment, and end-of-life care.
• Methodological quality varied significantly; sets developed using expert evaluation or the Delphi technique demonstrated higher quality.

Conclusions:

• While numerous QIs exist for assessing and optimizing community-based dementia care, further development and methodological refinement are essential.
• Future QI development should involve people with dementia and caregivers.
• Expanding the focus to include community-oriented QIs alongside medically-oriented ones is recommended for comprehensive dementia care improvement.