Police officers as key partners in dementia-friendly communities: evaluation of a co-developed training program tailored to their needs

Interacting with people living with dementia (PLWD) poses significant challenges for police officers, especially in emergency situations. While officers acknowledge the importance of dementia-friendly practices for timely and compassionate responses, many report insufficient training to do so effectively. This evaluative study used a convergent mixed-method design to assess a co-developed 90-minute training session tailored to officers’ needs when engaging with PLWD. Officers from three organizations completed questionnaires to collect quantitative and qualitative data before training (T1), immediately afterward (T2) and 6–9 months later (T3). Comparisons between T1 and T2 revealed significant improvements in perceived knowledge and competence. At T3, some participants reported still using learned strategies in daily practice. Participants also emphasized the value of additional practical, scenario-based content to strengthen real-life application. Our findings support integrating dementia-focused training into professional development and expanding it to other police organizations and first responder groups.