Principles and strategies of interviewing people with advanced dementia

Backhouse, Tamara, Killett, Anne, Jeon, Yun-Hee and Mioshi, Eneida (2025) Principles and strategies of interviewing people with advanced dementia. Dementia-International Journal of Social Research and Practice. ISSN 1471-3012

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Abstract

People with cognitive impairment such as those with dementia, particularly in the moderate or advanced stages, can be excluded from qualitative interview research. However, the value of people with dementia’s participation in research is increasingly acknowledged. Adaptations to qualitative interview techniques for use with people with advanced dementia are underexplored. We draw on 13 semi-structured interviews undertaken with people with advanced dementia in family and care-home settings. We examine researcher intuitive adaptations to contextualise and clarify including the importance of member checking in the moment with direct, closed questions if need be; people with dementia ‘coasting’ and leading; as well as carers as conversation partners. We draw out learning points around creating safe interview interactions, and strategies to enhance meaning making. We present methodological learnings and considerations when interviewing people with advanced dementia likely to be instructive for other researchers. We suggest that the research topic needs to be relatable and multiple methods of meaning making should be considered. Our analysis contributes to the growing evidence base considering how to improve meaningful engagement with people with dementia in interviewing. We encourage other researchers to reflect on their interview interactions with people with dementia to further delineate successful components and inform future research practices.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Data availability statement: The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, [TB], upon reasonable request. Funding information: The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by a fellowship award from The Alzheimer’s Society, UK (Grant Number: 372: AS-JF-17-002). Author TB received support from the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration ARC [East of England] and Alzheimer’s Society funded through Post-Doctoral Fellowships. EM, and AK are supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaboration East of England (NIHR ARC EoE). The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the funders, Alzheimer’s Society, National Institute for Health and Care Research, NHS, Department of Health and Social Care, or the University of East Anglia. Grant Number: 372: AS-JF-17-002.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	advanced dementia,care home,family carer,interviews,meaning making,social sciences(all),sociology and political science ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3300
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Health Sciences
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Mental Health and Social Care (fka Lifespan Health) Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Dementia & Complexity in Later Life Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Norwich Institute for Healthy Aging
Related URLs:	http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?...
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	07 Aug 2025 11:30
Last Modified:	01 Sep 2025 10:30
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/100102
DOI:	10.1177/14713012251371349

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