Occupational gaps reported by proxies for persons with dementia residing in a nursing home

Background In accordance with Swedish national dementia guidelines, persons with dementia residing in nursing homes should have the possibility to participate in everyday occupations. Securing choices and desires for participating in occupations is challenging due to the nature of dementia and is not evident in empirical studies regarding nursing home residents. Aim to describe gaps in participation in everyday occupations among persons with dementia living in a nursing home, as reported by a proxy respondent. Method To record the congruence or discrepancy between doing and wanting to do, the Occupational Gaps Questionnaire was used. Results were analysed with descriptive statistics. Results The respondents scored that over half of the persons with dementia had two or more occupational gaps and one-fourth wanted to participate in minor shopping. However, less than two percent were deemed to do this activity. Conclusions Persons with dementia living in nursing homes risk restrictions in participation. Securing valuable information regarding individuals' choices and desires, adhering to the persons' inherent rights to expression, can be the first step in promoting participation in everyday occupations. Significance Occupational therapists with their unique theoretical knowledge can facilitate participation in occupations, supporting the citizenship of nursing home residents.