The Dementia Assessment of Service Needs (DEMAND): Development and Validation of a Standardized Needs Assessment Instrument

BACKGROUND: Dementia is one of the main triggers for care dependency among older adults who are predominantly cared for at home by relatives. To provide support in the care situation, health systems need valid information about the central needs of the affected people. OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to develop a research instrument to assess the most important needs of people with dementia and their family caregivers. METHODS: The development of the ‘Dementia Assessment of Service Needs (DEMAND)’ took place within the project ‘Digital Dementia Registry Bavaria (digiDEM Bayern)’. A focus group and an online survey with dementia experts were conducted to identify the most relevant support services and to develop the design of the instrument. The questionnaire was deployed in the digiDEM baseline data collection. Participants were asked to evaluate the comprehensibility of the questionnaire. Readability was assessed using the Flesch reading ease score. RESULTS: Seventeen experts participated in the focus group and 59 people in the online survey. The final questionnaire included 13 support services. One hundred eighty-three participants (50 people with dementia and 133 family caregivers) completed the questionnaire at baseline. The mean comprehensibility score was 3.6 (SD = 2.3). The Flesch reading ease score result was 76. CONCLUSION: A research instrument could be developed, enabling people with dementia and family caregivers to directly express their individual needs for specific support services. Results show that the DEMAND is easy to understand and short in execution. Therefore, supply gaps can be identified and transformed into a specific health care plan.