Support care needs of people with hearing and vision impairment in dementia: a European cross-national perspective.
Iracema LeroiLucas WolskiAnna Pavlina CharalambousFofi ConstantinidouDavid RenaudPiers D DawesMark HannInes HimmelsbachJahanarah MiahMagali PayneZoe SimkinChryssoula ThodiWai Kent YeungAbebaw Mengistu YohannesPublished in: Disability and rehabilitation (2021)
This cross-national study revealed that PwD with sensory impairment and their care partners experience a wide range of unmet SCNs, the interactions between sensory impairments, SCNs and QoL are also complex. A tailored intervention could address these unmet SCNs, including additional support with sensory aids, psychological support, more information about concurrent impairments, and joined up health systems providing care.Implications for rehabilitationA majority of participants with combined age-related hearing, vision, and cognitive impairment had unmet SCNs.The needs of care partners including the risk of loneliness and social isolation, need to be considered.Individually tailored, specific interventions for hearing, vision, and cognitive impairment should incorporate physical and psychological support, as well as education.