Qualitative research with people who have a diagnosis of dementia

The word ‘dementia’ comes from the Latin demens and is used as a hypernym to refer to symptoms such as memory loss, visual and auditory hallucinations, and changes in mood and personality that are typically associated with conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. As the number of people living with dementia has increased across the world, understanding dementia has become a more central priority within qualitative research. This entry provides a summary of the key intellectual movements that have shaped the development of qualitative research into dementia, before going on to discuss methods used to engage people with dementia in the research process and the ethical considerations that researchers need to navigate in so doing.