Health Effects of the Relocation of Patients With Dementia: A Scoping Review to Inform Medical and Policy Decision-Making
Open accessAbstract
Background and Objectives: Research into the relocation (including international relocation) of people with dementia is increasingly important due to the aging population and latest developments in the international politics (including globalization and concerns over international migration). There is need for an overview of the health effects of relocation to facilitate and inform decision- and policy-making regarding these relocations. The aim of this literature review was to provide insight into the physical, psychological, and social consequences of varied types of relocations of older adults suffering from dementia. Research Design and Methods: A scoping literature review with a systematic search was performed in PubMed, Web of Science, PsychInfo, JSTOR, and ScienceDirect. The articles dealing with subject of relocation of older adults from 1994 to 2017 were included and analyzed. Methodological quality assessment was performed for all articles. Results: Final list included 13 articles. The effects of relocation were discussed in terms of mortality and morbidity. In most studies, the health effects of the relocation of older adults suffering from dementia were negative. A decline in physical, mental, behavioral, and functional well-being was reported. The most recurring effect was a higher level of stress, which is more problematic for patients with dementia. In general, unless it is carefully planned, it is best to avoid changing lives of people with dementia and it is recommended to actively work to reduce their exposure to stress. Discussion and Implications: The outcomes of the study suggest definite evidence for the negative effects of relocation of the older adults. This research aims to be used as the support of the legal and medical decisions of relocation of patients with dementia.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Fragmented transitions can lower physical and psychological wellbeing of those with MLTCiD and unpaid carers.
“Fragmented transitions can also lower physical and psychological wellbeing of those with MLTCiD and unpaid carers (referred to as ‘carers’) [18, 19].”
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 [18]
The Physical Effects and Psychological and/or Social Effects sections (pages not provided) report declines in physical and psychological well-being after relocation, while Negative Impact links disrupted continuity of care to harm in patients with dementia. The review concerns relocation of people with dementia, not fragmented transitions across the broader MLTCiD population; it mentions stress and burden for family members but does not establish declines in unpaid carers’ physical and psychological well-being. (LLM, conf=0.87)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
The global prevalence of dementia: a systematic review and metaanalysis.
Prince, M., Bryce, R., Albanese, E., Wimo, A., Ribeiro, W., & Ferri, C. P. (2013) · Alzheimer's & Dementia · doi:10.1016/j.jalz.2012.11.007 · Cited by 4,941 · see citing works
Dementia: a public health priority
Acosta, D. M., Krishnamoorthy, E. S., Wortmann, M., Prince, M. J., & Saxena, S. (2012) · Cited by 1,955 · see citing works
Standard Quality Assessment Criteria for Evaluating Primary Research Papers from a Variety of Fields
Kmet, L. M., Cook, L. S., & Lee, R. C. (2004) · University of Alberta Library · doi:10.7939/r37m04f16 · Cited by 1,682 · see citing works
The Therapeutic Design of Environments for People With Dementia
Day, K., Carreon, D., & Stump, C. (2000) · The Gerontologist · doi:10.1093/geront/40.4.397 · Cited by 517 · see citing works
Survival in dementia and predictors of mortality: a review
Todd, S., Barr, S., Roberts, M., & Passmore, A. P. (2013) · International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry · doi:10.1002/gps.3946 · Cited by 417 · see citing works
Fetherstonhaugh, D., Tarzia, L., & Nay, R. (2013) · Journal of Aging Studies · doi:10.1016/j.jaging.2012.12.007 · Cited by 156 · see citing works
Castle, N. G. (2001) · Medical Care Research and Review · doi:10.1177/107755870105800302 · Cited by 136 · see citing works
Nutrition and health among migrants in the Netherlands
Brussaard, J. H., van Erp-Baart, M.-A., Brants, H., Hulshof, K., & Löwik, M. (2001) · Public Health Nutrition · doi:10.1079/phn2001149 · Cited by 122 · see citing works
Walker, C. A., Curry, L. C., & Hogstel, M. O. (2007) · Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services · doi:10.3928/02793695-20070101-09 · Cited by 104 · see citing works
The Effects of Evacuation on Nursing Home Residents With Dementia
Brown, L. M., Dosa, D. M., Thomas, K. S., Hyer, K., Feng, Z., & Mor, V. (2012) · American Journal of Alzheimer s Disease & Other Dementias® · doi:10.1177/1533317512454709 · Cited by 99 · see citing works
Morgan, D., & Stewart, N. J. (1999) · Qualitative Health Research · doi:10.1177/104973299129121721 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
Handbook of Migration and Globalisation
TRIANDAFYLLIDOU, A. (2018) · Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks · doi:10.4337/9781785367519 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Transitions between health care settings in the final three months of life in four EU countries
Van den Block, L., Pivodic, L., Pardon, K., Donker, G., Miccinesi, G., Moreels, S., Vega Alonso, T., Deliens, L., & Onwuteaka-Philipsen, B. (2015) · The European Journal of Public Health · doi:10.1093/eurpub/ckv039 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Kao, H.-F. S., Travis, S. S., & Acton, G. J. (2004) · Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services · doi:10.3928/02793695-20040315-04 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Validity of the Nursing Diagnosis of Relocation Stress Syndrome
Mallick, M. J., & Whipple, T. W. (2000) · Nursing Research · doi:10.1097/00006199-200003000-00006 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Bellantonio, S., Kenny, R. A., Fortinsky, R. H., Kleppinger, A., Robison, J. T., Gruman, C., Kulldorff, M., & Trella, P. M. (2008) · Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · doi:10.1111/j.1532-5415.2007.01591.x · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Jervelund, S. S., Malik, S., Ahlmark, N., et al. (2016) · Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health · doi:10.1007/s10903-016-0347-9 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Cognitive Status and Relocation Stress
Mirotznik, J., & Kamp, L. L. (2000) · The Gerontologist · doi:10.1093/geront/40.5.531 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Frail Older Persons' Experiences of Interinstitutional Relocation
Falk, H., Wijk, H., & Persson, L. (2011) · Geriatric Nursing · doi:10.1016/j.gerinurse.2011.03.002 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
The effects of relocation on elderly people with dementia and their nursing staff
McAuslane, L., & Sperlinger, D. (1994) · International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry · doi:10.1002/gps.930091206 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia and medical treatment
Amano, N., Inuzuka, S., & Ogihara, T. (2009) · Psychogeriatrics · doi:10.1111/j.1479-8301.2009.00284.x · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Risk factors for the discontinuation of home medical care among low-functioning older patients
Umegaki, H., Asai, A., Kanda, S., Maeda, K., Shimojima, T., Nomura, H., & Kuzuya, M. (2015) · The journal of nutrition health & aging · doi:10.1007/s12603-015-0606-9 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Stress in Persons with Dementia: Benefits of a Memory Center Day Program
Williams, C. L., Tappen, R. M., Wiese, L. K., Newman, D., Corbett, M., Pinos, S., Curtis, B. G., & Murray, B. (2016) · Archives of Psychiatric Nursing · doi:10.1016/j.apnu.2016.04.011 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
HONORING RESIDENT AUTONOMY in Long-Term Care:Special Considerations
Hickman, S. E. (2004) · Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services · doi:10.3928/02793695-20040301-11 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Life events and cognition in dementia
Orrell, M. W., & Bebbington, P. (1998) · Aging & Mental Health · doi:10.1080/13607869856948 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Td, K. (1993) · PubMed · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- La Torre, G., Backhaus, I., & Alice, M. (2015). Rating for narrative literature reviews: Concept and development of the international narrative systematic assessment tool. Senses and Sciences, 2, 31- 35. doi:10.14616/sands-2015-1-3135 · DOI
- Morse, D. L. (2000). Relocation stress syndrome is real. A move to a nursing home can worsen health and hasten death. The American Journal of Nursing, 100, 24AAAA + 24BBBB + 24DDDD. doi:10.2307/3522152 · DOI
Cited by
Sorted by citations
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
“Fragmented transitions can also lower physical and psychological wellbeing of those with MLTCiD and unpaid carers (referred to as ‘carers’) [18, 19].”
Freedman, M., Binns, M. A., Serediuk, F., Wolf, M. U., Danieli, E., Pugh, B., Galet, D., Abdellah, E., Teleg, E., Halper, M., et al. (2022) · Journal of Alzheimer's Disease · doi:10.3233/jad-215403 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
- Authors
- Ryman, F. V. M., Erisman, J. C., Darvey, L. M., Osborne, J., Swartsenburg, E., & Syurina, E. V.
- Affiliations
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (NL)
- Athena Institute, Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Corresponding author
- Syurina, Elena V
- Venue
- The Gerontologist
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2018-04-28
- Volume
- 59
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- e674-e682
- ISSN
- 0016-9013 (ISSN-L)
- 1758-5341
- OpenAlex
- W2802162748
- Cited by
- 44
- References
- 26
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 4
- FWCI
- 0.30
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model (vor)
- Locations
- The Gerontologist (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- VU Research Portal (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Migration, Health and Trauma
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Geriatric Care and Nursing Homes
- Keywords
- dementia, relocation, international relocation, older adults, health effects, stress, mortality, morbidity, well-being, functional decline, dementia policy
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Decision Making, Dementia, Health Policy, Humans, Policy Making, Transportation of Patients
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
