Living alone with dementia or memory difficulties: Experiences pre and post diagnosis

Literature Review
Dementia affects people’s memory, behaviour and other brain functions. This review explored the experiences of women with dementia and mild cognitive impairment who live alone, which has not been well researched.
We searched online databases for existing studies. 29 studies were included in the review. The quality of these studies was assessed as moderate or high quality.
Findings highlighted that women wanted to live in their homes for as long as possible, wanted to be involved in decisions around their lives, and were more likely to feel lonely, so tried to find ways to fill their days. Women experienced loss of parts of their identity when experiencing memory difficulties.
Clinical psychologists should work alongside other organisations to help women stay living in their homes.
Empirical Report
Much dementia research has focused on experiences of individuals after receiving a diagnosis, with less exploring people’s experiences before diagnosis, especially among people living alone. It is important to understand the experiences of people living alone who have memory difficulties, and their journey during the memory assessment process.
The researcher spoke with 11 people who lived alone and were being seen by the memory service due to the memory difficulties they had been experiencing. The interviews were analysed, which led to four areas of results. These were: 1) participants noticed a change in their identity as a person with memory difficulties, 2) how they navigated changes, 3) how, although living alone, they tried to connect to others, and 4) ways people view dementia and what caused them to seek a diagnosis. Clinical Psychologists could provide therapy to support women with identity loss.