Principles and strategies of interviewing people with advanced dementia

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.