Background:Many community-dwelling older adults(CDOAs) experiencing a noticeable decline in cognitive ability may have mild cognitive impairment (MCI).It is important for health-care providers working in dementia care and public health policy to understand local environments, including neighborhoods, because older adults move between their own homes, friends’ homes, family members’ homes, shops, and various formal care environments. Little is known about how much citizens and neighbors support CDOAs, such as by alerting health-care professionals about needs for further support to optimize their health, safety, and quality of life at home.Aims:This review sought to identify and analyze publications examining the barriers to and facilitators of the detection and handling of behavioral problems in CDOAs with probable MCI or mild-to-moderate dementia (as recognized by citizens, neighbors, and informal caregivers) and how health-care systems deal with them.Methods: Existing publications weresearched forin sevenelectronic databases with no date limitations, from their inception until October 31, 2020.An additional search was conducted in Google Scholar.Results:3’810 records of all sorts, publication dates, and languages were identified. Only two studies were retained for review.Analysis of the literature failed to identify the profiles of the citizens, neighbors, and informal caregivers who are among the first in the community to be exposed to older adults’ behavioral problems. Conclusion: No studies to date seem to have explored how citizens, neighbors, and non-family informal caregivers are exposed to and deal with the behavioral problems presented by CDOAs. Because older adults living alone in their own homes are frequently quite isolated, community life can become a determining factor in the process of detecting and orienting older adults presenting with MCI or mild-to-moderate dementia. As a result, it seems necessary and urgent to promote research in this field.
