About DEM(H)CARE

Purpose

Overall aim of the programme

DEM(H)CARE will describe and analyse how social care and health care for older people with dementia living at home is organised in Sweden today, and to identify and develop best practice regarding coordinated collaborations between different organisations: home care, home health care and primary care.

The focus will be on the processes that guide and change the work, the organised promotion of joint ventures, and cooperation between professionals from different organisations, the experiences and methods used professionals, and the use of specific care solutions, such as the use of dementia teams and welfare technology, in dealing with older people with dementia living at home.

The programme will also explore the views and experiences from different actors, professionals, as well as from care recipients and their relatives, in different local contexts, such as a small/rural municipality, a medium-sized municipality and a large city, to identify specific challenges and opportunities for care provision in relation to different geographical local contexts.

This aim is translated into an interdisciplinary partnership between research and practice with the common aim of critically reviewing and discussing care in terms of its provision, content and implementation. An active interplay between research and practice is assumed at every step, from planning the different work packages, to collecting and analysing data, and for providing feedback on the results in terms of processes and outcomes.

Methods

Research questions

1. How is dementia care for people living at home coordinated and organized in Swedish municipalities and how is this care evaluated according to different quality indicators? (WP1)

2. What are the specific challenges, solutions, and experiences of dementia care for people living at home in different types of municipalities (large cities, medium-sized municipalities and small/rural municipalities)? (WP2)

3. How is dementia care for people living at home coordinated and organized in the identified best performing municipalities? (WP3)

4. How could dementia care be organized in the future in relation to different municipalities’ conditions to best meet the need for sustainable, high quality care solutions for people living at home with dementia? (WP4)


Work Packages

WP1: National Overview

Mapping care structures and quality indicators

WP2: Local Perspectives

Studying care delivery in municipalities of different sizes

WP3: Best Practices

Learning from municipalities with effective coordination

WP4: Conclusions

Sharing findings to guide future care and policy

An Interdisciplinary Research Programme