Dementia care navigation: A systematic review on different service types and their prevalence
Open accessAbstract
Background: Dementia Care Navigators (DCNs) are professionals without clinical training, who provide individualised emotional and practical support to people living with dementia, working alongside clinical services. Navigator services have been implemented but the service offered vary without a consistent overview provided. The aim of this narrative systematic review was to describe and compare existing service formats, and to synthesise evidence regarding their implementation and impacts. Methods: The review was registered on PROSPERO [CRD42021292518]. Three electronic databases were searched and included studies reported on a DCN service, defined as a service in which non‐clinically trained workers provide personalised advice and support to people with dementia and/or carers in the community. Two independent reviewers screened abstracts and titles and read through full papers for inclusion. Risk of bias was assessed using the Standard Quality Assessment QualSyst. Results: We included 14 papers reporting on six studies. All services were US‐based and only varied by integration and training provided. Studies reported different degrees of impact on service utilisation and on symptoms and mental well‐being of people with dementia and their carers, with too little evidence to draw substantial/meaningful conclusions and studies employing different outcome measures. One study evidenced greater impacts on people with more advanced dementia compared to earlier stages. Conclusions: DCN services have the potential to effectively provide non‐clinical support to people with dementia and carers from the point of diagnosis. Further research from countries other than the USA, focusing on the impact on social care and social support service access and utilisation, and utilising similar established outcome measures are required.
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Some research suggests that dementia care coordination is mostly a non-clinical role placed in the community, who are likely to face barriers due to access, and lack of standardised documentation.
“In contrast to the model’s recommendation and our findings, some research suggests that dementia care coordination is mostly a non-clinical role placed in the community, who are likely to face barriers due to access, and lack of standardised documentation [110, 111].”
From Do hospital-to-home transitions work for older adults with multiple long-term conditions including dementia? A realist review (2025) · cites this paper as [110]
Section 3.3 describes the reviewed dementia care navigators as non-clinical professionals, and the Introduction says they link people to local services. But the Introduction places them within either clinical or non-clinical infrastructure and describes access barriers faced by people with dementia and carers, not necessarily by navigators. No passage found supports the asserted lack of standardised documentation. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Alzheimer's Society. Left to Cope Alone: The Unmet Support Needs after a Dementia Diagnosis. Alzheimer's Society; 2022. How to cite this article: Giebel C., Reilly S., Gabbay M., et al. Dementia care navigation: a systematic review on different service types and their prevalence. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2023;e5977. https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.5977
Cited by
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Lawson, L., Cooper, M., Tolley, C., Hand, A., & Nazar, H. (2025) · BMC Geriatrics · doi:10.1186/s12877-025-06123-0 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
“In contrast to the model’s recommendation and our findings, some research suggests that dementia care coordination is mostly a non-clinical role placed in the community, who are likely to face barriers due to access, and lack of standardised documentation [110, 111].”
Abrams, R., Spiers, J., Maben, J., Grosvenor, W., Touray, M., & Gage, H. (2024) · BMC Medicine · doi:10.1186/s12916-024-03806-0 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
- Authors
- Giebel, C., Reilly, S., Gabbay, M., Dickinson, J., Tetlow, H., Hogan, H., Griffiths, A., & Cooper, C.
- Affiliations
- University of Liverpool (GB)
- Centre for Applied Dementia Studies University of Bradford Bradford UK
- NIHR Applied Research Collaboration North West Coast (GB)
- Alzheimer's Society (GB)
- Queen Mary University of London (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Giebel, Clarissa
- Venue
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2023-08
- Volume
- 38
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- e5977-e5977
- ISSN
- 0885-6230 (ISSN-L)
- 1099-1166
- OpenAlex
- W4385441688
- Cited by
- 24
- References
- 38
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 1
- FWCI
- 1.09
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- White Rose Research Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York) (submittedVersion)
- Queen Mary Research Online (Queen Mary University of London) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Lancaster EPrints (Lancaster University) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute for Health and Care Research
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Geriatric Care and Nursing Homes
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Nursing care and research
- Keywords
- dementia care, caregiver support, service integration, navigator training, service utilization, psychological well-being, community-based support
- MeSH terms
- Dementia, Humans, Mental Health, Social Support, Prevalence, Caregivers
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