Dai Jiamin, Bartlett Joan C, Moffatt Karyn
McGill University, Canada.
J Librariansh Inf Sci. 2023 Mar;55(1):123-136. doi: 10.1177/09610006211065170. Epub 2021 Dec 29.
Growing dementia-friendly library services are contributing to community-based dementia care. Emerging community programs in libraries and museums provide notable opportunities for promoting engagement and inclusivity, but these programs have yet to receive in-depth assessments and analyses to guide future research and practice. This paper presents a case study examining a social and storytelling program for people with dementia run by a Canadian public library. It investigates two research questions: How can public library programs contribute to community-based dementia care? And what are public libraries' strengths and challenges in running programs for people with dementia? The study involves participant observations of the program and semi-structured interviews with people with dementia, caregivers, and program facilitators (librarians and Alzheimer Society coordinators). Through thematic analysis of fieldnotes and transcripts, the study reveals how this inclusive platform supports engagement, fosters relationships, helps caregivers, and reaches broader communities. This research further uncovers the librarians' diversified roles as demonstrated through their collaboration with professionals, preparation and research, and facilitation of the sessions. This paper advances librarianship research on enriching community-based dementia care, including furthering inclusivity and engagement and extending accessible library services. By analyzing library programming for the dementia community and assessing its strengths and challenges, the paper highlights librarians' awareness of the community's evolving needs and their collaboration with other professionals. It offers practical insights on useful resources and emerging best practices that will hopefully inspire other initiatives in which information professionals can help improve the well-being of vulnerable populations.
越来越多对痴呆症患者友好的图书馆服务正在为基于社区的痴呆症护理做出贡献。图书馆和博物馆中新兴的社区项目为促进参与和包容性提供了显著机会，但这些项目尚未得到深入评估和分析，以指导未来的研究和实践。本文呈现了一个案例研究，考察了加拿大一家公共图书馆为痴呆症患者开展的一个社交与讲故事项目。它探究了两个研究问题：公共图书馆项目如何为基于社区的痴呆症护理做出贡献？以及公共图书馆在为痴呆症患者开展项目方面的优势和挑战是什么？该研究包括对项目的参与观察，以及对痴呆症患者、护理人员和项目推动者（图书管理员和阿尔茨海默病协会协调员）的半结构化访谈。通过对实地记录和访谈记录的主题分析，该研究揭示了这个包容性平台如何支持参与、促进人际关系、帮助护理人员以及触及更广泛的社区。这项研究进一步揭示了图书管理员通过与专业人员合作、准备和研究以及组织活动所展现出的多元化角色。本文推进了关于丰富基于社区的痴呆症护理的图书馆学研究，包括进一步提升包容性和参与度以及扩展可及的图书馆服务。通过分析针对痴呆症群体的图书馆项目并评估其优势和挑战，本文凸显了图书管理员对社区不断变化的需求的认识以及他们与其他专业人员的合作。它提供了关于有用资源和新兴最佳实践的实用见解，有望激发其他项目，让信息专业人员能够帮助改善弱势群体的福祉。
