Rehabilitation needs in people living with Dementia: A scoping review of assessment tools and procedures

Rehabilitation is increasingly being integrated into dementia care. To provide person-centred rehabilitation interventions, a systematic assessment of rehabilitation needs is essential. This scoping review was conducted to identify and map the characteristics of tools and procedures used by health professionals to assess the rehabilitation needs of people living at home with early-stage dementia. A comprehensive literature search was conducted in 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2023 of PubMed, Embase, PsycInfo, CINAHL and Prospero. Identified tools were classified according to the World Health Organization's ICF classification and subjective perspectives. Procedures were classified according to place, time and the people involved in the needs assessment. Eleven papers were included. The population considered was predominantly people diagnosed with Alzheimer's dementia. The identified tools mainly assessed problems with functioning, predominantly focusing on activity and less frequently on participation. One tool had a focus on the environment. None of the tools focused on personal factors. Subjective perspectives were mainly assessed in terms of goal setting. Procedures were poorly described. While several needs assessment tools were identified, procedures for needs assessment were sparsely described in the included papers. This scoping review indicates that a strengthened focus on needs assessment is needed in future research and practice.