Cultural dementia care: a review of Museum-led programmes for informal caregivers

Museum-led dementia care programmes enable social and cognitive outcomes for people living with dementia and their caregivers. However, the long-term effects on informal caregivers and the scalability of these interventions remain under-researched.

A systematic search in 3 databases followed PRISMA guidelines, focusing on studies from 2004 to 2024 in Australia, Europe and North America. The study aimed to map the existing evidence on the impact of museum-led interventions for informal dementia caregivers, and identify the mechanisms supporting their wellbeing.

Out of 272 identified papers, 7 met the inclusion criteria. These studies demonstrated medium-high quality and highlighted the positive impact of museum-led programmes on caregivers' wellbeing.

Museum-led programmes are a valuable component of comprehensive dementia care, emphasising the need to integrate cultural interventions into health and social care policies to support informal caregivers' wellbeing. Future research should assess long-term impacts, scalability, and integration into diverse care settings.