The primary aim of this scoping review was to explore the contribution of housing adaptations to supporting everyday life for people with dementia living at home in the community. The study adopted a scoping review methodology which was guided by the Joanna Briggs Institute Reviewers Manual. Four review questions were developed which subsequently informed the inclusion criteria and search terms. Eight databases were searched resulting in 2,339 records, with 13 papers being included in the review. Evidence from the review found that the most common adaptations were recommended and/or implemented to compensate for a person's physical limitations and for safety reasons, rather than adaptations to support activities of daily living for a person with dementia. Support to implement adaptations was provided by a range of professionals coupled with ‘trial and error’ approaches adopted by the person themselves, and these were seen as key enablers. Barriers to implementing and using adaptations were fourfold: (a) access to information, (b) knowing when to make changes, (c) carer resistance, and (d) the unsuitability of the home. It would appear that housing adaptations have a positive impact on both the person with dementia and the carer (where one is present), with some adaptations having a relatively sustained impact and being particularly effective if implemented early in the lived trajectory of dementia.

Background: The aging society will bring an increase in the number of people with dementia living in the community. This will mean a greater demand on care and welfare services to deliver efficient and customized care, which requires a thorough understanding of subjective and objective care needs. This study aims to assess the needs of community-dwelling people with dementia as reported by themselves and by their informal carers. The study also aims to give insight into the service use and gaps between needs and the availability of services.

Methods: 236 community-dwelling people with dementia and 322 informal carers were interviewed separately. (Un)met needs were assessed using the Camberwell Assessment of Needs for the Elderly (CANE).

Results: Most unmet needs were experienced in the domains of memory, information, company, psychological distress and daytime activities. People with dementia reported fewer (unmet) needs than their carers. Type and severity of dementia, living situation and informal carer characteristics were related to the number of reported needs.

Conclusions: This study showed a large number of unmet needs in dementia. Reasons for unmet needs are lack of knowledge about the existing service offer, a threshold to using services and insufficient services offer. These results provide a good starting point for improving community care for people with dementia.

Objective: Insight into the individual care needs of the growing number of people with dementia is necessary to deliver more customized care. Our study aims to provide an overview of the literature on the subjective needs of people with dementia.

Method: Electronic databases were searched for publications on subjective needs between January 1985 and July 2005, and reference lists were cross-referenced. Extracts of needs were classified within problem areas of the (Dutch) National Dementia Program and quality of life domains, and the extracts were classified as a “need” (an implicitly communicated felt state of deprivation), “want” (expression of a need) or “demand” (suitable solution to fulfill a need).

Results: Subjective needs were found in 34 studies with various research aims, such as awareness and coping. Few studies aimed to measure needs of people with dementia. The most frequently reported needs of people with dementia were the need to be accepted and respected as they are, the need to find adequate strategies to cope with disabilities, and the need to come to terms with their situation. Explicit wants or demands were reported less frequently than needs.

Conclusion: The high number of reported needs and the limited number of wants and demands show that people with dementia do not frequently mention how they want their needs to be met. Most reported needs are not instrumental, but are related to well-being and coping. Further research to inventory these needs could help achieve more demand-directed and better attuned care in the future.