Meaningful Engagement and Person-centered Residential Dementia Care: A Critical Interpretive Synthesis

Background: People with moderate to advanced dementia living in residential care are at risk of occupational deprivation. Person-centered care has been adopted as a guiding principle in the provision of residential care for older adults with dementia. In this context, there has been shift in occupational therapy practice from addressing occupational performance towards focusing on meaningful engagement. While both meaningful engagement and person-centered care have been well researched the relationship between the two concepts is poorly understood.

Aim: A critical interpretative synthesis was conducted to determine how principles of person-centered care inform occupational therapy practice in relation to promotion of meaningful engagement among residents with moderate to advanced dementia.

Methods: A systematic search of research addressing meaningful engagement of people with moderate to advanced dementia identified 26 papers.

Results: Papers were classified as theoretical papers and empirical research. Two overarching constructs emerged, namely promoting a culture of collaborative care and understanding the resident as a person with a past, present and future.

Conclusions: Occupational deprivation prevails and person-centered care is not fully addressed if opportunities for growth and engagement for residents with moderate to advanced dementia is not extended beyond their life history.

Significance: Creating continued opportunities for building agency of residents with dementia could promote occupational justice in residential care.