Challenges when measuring person-centred dementia care in nursing homes: a discussion paper

The gold standard of person-centred dementia care in nursing homes is required by international guidelines. Nevertheless, the implementation of this approach remains challenging. Measurements designed to observe outcomes associated with the implemented intervention, assess the attitudes of relevant audiences, investigate the effectiveness of person-centred care interventions, and evaluate the extension of person-centred care implementation in long-term care practice are necessary to overcome these challenges. Nonetheless, capturing the core of person-centredness remains challenging in implementation and intervention studies. For this discussion paper, we conducted a literature search to address three different perspectives on the measurement of person-centred care in the context of its implementation into practice: (1) conceptual, (2) interventional, and (3) organizational perspectives. This paper aims to provide insights into measurements that have been used in dementia care research and to discuss the challenges that correspond with measuring person-centred dementia care in nursing homes. Based on the discussion, we provide recommendations for future measurements of person-centred care in the conclusion section. Our recommendations address key aspects that we deem necessary for an adequate person-centred care measurement in the future, including (1) a consensus on a definition of core elements of person-centred dementia care and the provision of adaptable person-centred dementia care-related concepts and (2) multidimensional, (3) multiperspective, and (4) multimethodological approaches that aim to capture the core and adaptable elements of person-centred care. All key aspects are consistent with and are influenced by the engagement of people living with dementia, their relatives, and relevant stakeholders as well as a continuous, transparent and joint dialogue on every key aspect.