Measuring Meaning-Based Well-Being in Individuals with Dementia: The Creation and Validation of the Well-being in Dementia Inventory.

Despite growing attention to well-being in dementia, few studies have defined meaning-based
(eudaimonic) well-being in this population, mainly due to challenges posed by cognitive
decline and self-report limitations. We developed and validated a novel tool for measuring
meaning-based well-being in individuals with dementia, particularly those receiving
residential or home care. The study included two samples: carers of 174 care home residents
and carers of 420 community-dwelling individuals for whom respondents reported dementia.
The Well-being in Dementia Inventory (WiDI) assesses six core dimensions: Self-
Sufficiency, Functional Mastery, Goal-Based Mastery, Purposeful Engagement, Positive
Interactions, and Constructive Self-Perspective. Confirmatory Factor Analysis established the
WiDI’s six-factor structure, underscoring its multidimensional nature and equivalence across
community-dwelling individuals, regardless of gender, age group (younger-old/mid-older-
old), or care context (family or professional). The scale exhibited high internal and inter-rater
reliability, though very low scores in the care home sample inflated these statistics.
Concurrent validity was confirmed through strong correlations with adapted indices of
meaning-based well-being (e.g., the Scales of Psychological Well-being and the Mental
Health Continuum Short Form, commonly used in non-dementia samples), indicating the
WiDI’s conceptual consistency. These findings clarify how meaning-based well-being can be
assessed in individuals with dementia and introduce the WiDI as a reliable and valid tool for
assessing well-being, suggesting broad applicability across care settings. These results have
important implications for practice and policy, advocating a meaning-based approach to well-
being assessments that ensures holistic, personalised care by focusing on key indicators of
life quality.