Sustainable nurse-led care for people with dementia including mild cognitive impairment and their family in an ambulatory care setting: A scoping review

Abstract

Aims: This review aimed to determine the characteristics of a nurse-led intervention for people with dementia including mild cognitive impairment and their family in an ambulatory care setting.

Background: Enhancing the role of nurses in a multidisciplinary team of ambulatory care follow-up after a diagnosis of dementia is thought to lead to successful dementia care.

Design: This is a scoping review.

Data sources: MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, Cochrane, JBI, Japan Medical Abstracts Society, PsycINFO and Web of Science were searched on 14 March 2019.

Review methods: This scoping review was conducted using the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology, followed the PRISMA-ScR checklist and considered studies that included interventions conducted by nurses and included outcomes regarding dementia symptoms or family care burden.

Results: Eleven studies were included. Of these, all interventions were multifactorial and reported effective results. Educational interventions were most common, and the content of education included the characteristics of dementia and how to interact with patients with dementia. The roles of nurses included caregiver education, assessment, care plan creation for continuous monitoring and team building.

Conclusion: This scoping review suggested that effective nurse-led interventions in the ambulatory care of people with dementia are continuous patient and family supports, primarily caregiver education within multidisciplinary teams.

Keywords: ambulatory; dementia; mild cognitive impairment; nurse-led intervention.