Background: Dementia is an umbrella term for diseases characterised by a progressive decline in cognition, social functioning and behavioural changes appearing in a state of clear consciousness. A person-centred approach emphasises the life-world perspective and allows the person to be involved and make decisions, influencing the care and treatment provided. Healthcare professionals should strive for personal care and a caring environment by tailoring nursing to the person's needs, preferences, abilities, and goals. In person-centred care, it is crucial to know the person, and life story work is one way to accomplish this in daily care by helping older people maintain their identities by reminiscing and sharing their stories. Life story work should be an ongoing process together with the older person and their close relatives. A life story in digital form can be a living document that is easily accessible and easy to use and update.

Aims: This licentiate thesis aims to summarise and describe the advantages and obstacles of healthcare professionals using digital life stories in daily care for older people with dementia to support person-centred care.

Methods: In study I, a scoping review with five stages described by Arksey and O’Malley (2005) was chosen because it was an appropriate way to obtain a quick overview of the extent of the research field regarding the use of digital life stories. The data was analysed using qualitative content analysis of the studies’ full text, according to Hsieh and Shannon’s (2005) method. In study II, semi-structured focus group interviews were conducted. Questions were designed to be open and focused to support data validity and encourage dynamic discussions. This qualitative descriptive study was designed to describe healthcare professionals’ experiences using life stories in the daily care of older people with dementia. An inductive thematic analysis, inspired by Braun and Clarke (2012), was used to systematically identify, organise, and provide an understanding of patterns of meaning. For this study, 15 assistant nurses were recruited with purposeful sampling.

Results: The key findings were that digital life stories enable personal content, like photos, music, and videos, and may improve symmetric interaction and communication. Life stories can facilitate activities based on the person’s wishes and needs. A digital life story is beneficial for handling behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia. Integrating digital life stories into daily care could also improve new employees’ communication skills, communication with close relatives could be improved, and relatives can update content and keep up with moments through photos uploaded by the care setting. Life story work in digital form can support a person’s privacy, preserve dignity, and help reconnect to memories. There were concerns regarding time constraints and technical issues, and some obstacles using a digital life story concerned physical barriers. It appears preferable if the older person wrote the life story so it could indeed be their story. 

Conclusion: This research highlights the benefits of using life stories as a communication tool in daily care to support person-centred care of older people with dementia. Digital life stories can facilitate symmetric communication and help manage behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia. Starting life story work early in dementia is crucial. Digital life stories, being easily accessible and updated, can enhance care by aligning with the older person’s evolving needs and preferences. This approach can inform policy, practice, and further research using digital life stories to support person-centred care.