An exploratory study of creating dementia-friendly businesses in the visitor economy: evidence from the UK

Many governments have promoted the development of a civil society to encourage citizen involvement in addressing many of the grand social challenges such as the growing prevalence of dementia, as ageing becomes a major trend in developed societies. One outcome has been the development of Dementia Friendly Communities, created via Dementia Action Alliances (DAAs) in England, to enhance awareness, care and the experience of people with dementia in accessing services and facilities. These initiatives are based on engaging the business community and yet no research studies have examined this theme to date. Given the growing significance of leisure and tourism activities that people with dementia and family members engage in, this study examines the experience of business engagement with DAAs in the visitor economy in England. The notion of shared value articulated by Porter and Kramer (2011) is used as a basis for understanding the type of business engagement.