The Edinburgh Principles with accompanying guidelines and recommendations.
Use the seven Edinburgh Principles as a quick checklist when you design, review, or audit services for adults with ID and dementia.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Doughty et al. (2002) asked experts to agree on how services should help adults with both intellectual disability and dementia.
They wrote seven plain rules, called the Edinburgh Principles, plus checklists for putting each rule into action.
The paper is a road map, not an experiment; it tells agencies what good dementia care looks like.
What they found
The group agreed on seven must-dos: keep the person central, know that carers are experts, plan early, coordinate care, adapt the setting, train staff, and safeguard rights.
Each principle comes with mini-steps so teams can audit themselves tomorrow.
How this fits with other research
La Face et al. (2026) show the gap this paper tries to close: in 19 of 30 Austrian homes, staff suspected dementia but never used a formal tool.
Pettingell et al. (2022) give you the actual tools the principles call for—BPSD-DS, CAMDEX-DS, and others—so you can move from principle to practice.
Mansell et al. (2010) echo the same rights-based tone, but for moving people out of institutions; together the two papers form a wider ID rights playbook.
Why it matters
Print the seven principles, stick them on the office wall, and run a five-minute team check at every care review. If a step is missing, you have an instant quality-improvement target that keeps you rights-focused and audit-ready.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
A panel of experts attending a 3-day meeting held in Edinburgh, UK, in February 2001 was charged with producing a set of principles outlining the rights and needs of people with intellectual disability (ID)and dementia, and defining service practices which would enhance the supports available to them. The Edinburgh Principles, seven statements identifying a foundation for the design and support of services to people with ID affected by dementia, and their carers, were the outcome of this meeting. The accompanying guidelines and recommendations document provides an elaboration of the key points associated with the Principles and is structured toward a four-point approach: (1) adopting a workable philosophy of care; (2) adapting practices at the point of service delivery; (3) working out the coordination of diverse systems; and (4) promoting relevant research. It is expected that the Principles will be adopted by service organizations world-wide, and that the accompanying document will provide a useful and detailed baseline from which further discussions, research efforts and practice development can progress.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2002 · doi:10.1046/j.1365-2788.2002.00393.x