Living with early-stage dementia: the perspective of older Chinese people.

Aim: This paper is a report of a study to describe the lived experiences of people with early-stage dementia and their ways of coping with the illness.

Background: Emerging models of subjective experience and coping with early dementia have been developed in Western cultures. Understanding how Chinese people with early-stage dementia adjust and cope is an important starting point in developing interventions that can enhance their adaptive coping.