Methods and approaches to facilitate inclusion of the views, perspectives and preferences of people with moderate-to-severe dementia in research: A narrative systematic review.

The review included only 11 documents from 7 discrete studies, so the evidence base is small. Sample sizes were small, ranging from 10 to 34, and all studies were from the United States or the United Kingdom. Dementia stage was reported inconsistently, and some studies included people with mild dementia, so it is unclear exactly who could benefit. Study quality was generally moderate, and the review did not exclude studies based on quality. The included studies used heterogeneous designs, tools and outcome measures, so no single tool can be recommended. Picture-based tools may require visual acuity, manual dexterity, training and longer time, limiting use in busy settings.

The review was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, the National Institute for Health and Care Research and Alzheimer's Society. The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Do not read this as proof that Talking Mats, AAC boards or ballots improve dementia care. The review found limited, heterogeneous evidence from small studies and says there is no basis for recommending any one tool.