Characteristics of dementia-friendly hospitals: an integrative review

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Dementia-friendly initiatives are becoming common in society, politics, and research, including health care. Regarding efforts to improve care for patients with dementia in hospitals, the term dementia-friendly hospital is being used increasingly. However, a theoretical understanding of this term and the underlying concept are missing. This integrative review aims to identify current descriptions of dementia-friendly hospitals and to analyze their characteristics. METHODS: An integrative review was conducted. The databases MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycInfo, Cochrane Library, and additional resources were searched. Two reviewers independently screened publications for inclusion. We extracted data from the included publications and analyzed the descriptions of dementia-friendly hospitals using inductive content analysis in an iterative process. RESULTS: We identified 4191 records and included 34 publications on 17 descriptions of dementia-friendly hospitals. These were found in the context of practice projects (n = 8), recommendations (n = 6) and research (n = 3). Our analysis resulted in six characteristics of dementia-friendly hospitals. Characteristics related to the patients and their care are continuity, person-centeredness, consideration of phenomena within dementia and environment. Additional characteristics are valuing relatives and knowledge and expertise within the hospital. CONCLUSION: Dementia-friendly hospitals are currently characterized more by healthcare practices and professional dementia experts than by the results of empirical studies. Additionally, the perspective of people with dementia is underrepresented in current descriptions. Accordingly, further research is needed that involves people with dementia in order to develop a theoretical understanding and suitable concepts of dementia-friendly hospitals, since their perspective is essential. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12877-022-03103-6.