“It became more and more important to bring the world into the house”: exploring the barriers and facilitators to a culturally inclusive dementia-friendly community

Dementia-friendly communities can increase community participation and social wellbeing for people impacted by dementia. However, culturally and linguistically diverse people have typically been excluded or underrepresented from dementia-friendly community design processes. This study aimed to establish the factors that affect community engagement for culturally and linguistically diverse people impacted by dementia, and their suggestions for a dementia-friendly community in Canterbury-Bankstown, Australia. Bilingual researchers conducted semi-structured interviews (N = 17) in three languages: seven were in English (dyads n = 6; former carer n = 1); five were in Arabic (person with dementia n = 1; dyads n = 3; former carer n = 1) and five were in Vietnamese (dyads n = 4; former carer n = 1). These interviews explored barriers and facilitators to community engagement and design considerations for a culturally inclusive dementia-friendly community. Interview transcripts were thematically analysed, inductively. Factors that affected participation included community perceptions of dementia, family support, and the accessibility of transport and public environments. Members of the Arabic and Vietnamese groups faced language barriers and cultural stigma, which increased a sense of exclusion and isolation. In response, they emphasised the need for accessible transport, inclusive social groups, and community-wide dementia education to create a more dementia-friendly environment. Their suggestions aligned with traditional dementia-friendly community principles and were subsequently adopted by the local dementia alliance in designing a more inclusive and culturally responsive dementia-friendly community.