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

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