Perceived rehabilitation needs of older people with dementia : A qualitative interview study

Rehabilitation is an umbrella term for actions that aim to optimise autonomy, life management, functioning, and well-being of older people. Physical rehabilitation supports physical functioning and daily activities. However, in dementia care, rehabilitation is an underutilised resource, and healthcare professionals describe challenges in implementing rehabilitation. Also, scientific knowledge of individual rehabilitation needs is relatively scarce. The aim of this qualitative study was to understand the perceived rehabilitation needs of older people with dementia.

Participants were recruited from a care organisation that provides home- and long-term care and adult day care to community-dwelling older people. In total, 12 persons with the mean age of 83 years with mild to moderate dementia participated in this study. Data were collected through face-to-face focus group interviews and analysed using inductive thematic analysis.

The study participants described their rehabilitation needs through three main themes: (1) Need for coordination of rehabilitation, (2) Need for individually tailored rehabilitation, and (3) Need for social support. Rehabilitation was mainly seen as physical activity and physical rehabilitation. Participants felt that rehabilitation could take place both through self-directed activities, such as going for a walk, or participating in rehabilitative activities like group exercises, as well as through planned activities conducted with a rehabilitation professional or home care staff.

This study identified several key elements for successful rehabilitation described by older people with dementia. The results highlight the importance of well-coordinated, individually tailored rehabilitation, and social support with distributed agency. These results can help healthcare professionals and family members to implement rehabilitation successfully for this rapidly growing special target group.