“There’ll always be something that I can do”: A Qualitative Exploration of Nurse Practitioner-Led Community Dementia Care Enabling a Life of Dignity

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This study explored the experiences of people living with dementia and their care partners attending a nurse practitioner-led, community-based, multicomponent memory clinic in regional Australia. Guided by Nussbaum’s Central Human Capabilities, a qualitative descriptive design was used to examine how the model of post-diagnostic dementia care supported living a life of dignity. Emotional touchpoint interviews were conducted between January and May 2025 with people who had attended the clinic for six months or more. Fourteen interviews were completed with people living with dementia ( n = 8) and care partners ( n = 6), and analysed thematically. Four themes were generated: emotional safety in a predictable, respectful group; relational autonomy and everyday choice; feeling truly known, respected, and connected; and meaningful engagement through accessible challenge and play. People with dementia described the value of familiar routines, social connection, physical exercise, cognitive stimulation, creativity, humour, and supported choice. These experiences promoted feelings of safety, confidence, enjoyment, belonging, autonomy, and meaningful contribution. Care partners reinforced these experiences, highlighting the importance of predictability, emotional safety, individualised support, and being genuinely known within the group. The findings suggest that post-diagnostic dementia care can move beyond biomedical models focused on diagnosis, treatment, loss, and decline. Nurse practitioner-led, community-based models can support dignity when they create relational and emotional conditions in which people living with dementia can feel safe, make choices, express emotion, remain connected, and experience themselves as capable. This study highlights the potential of capability focused, nurse-led dementia care in promoting accessible, person-centred, and emotionally safe post-diagnostic support.