| 211 8 and combining various research methods is essential in developing a comprehensive understanding of the nature of dementia experiences of diagnosis and post-diagnostic support needs. A mixed methods approach combines elements of quantitative and qualitative data and is increasingly used in dementia research (90, 91). Conducting mixed methods research can be complicated and may be further complicated when facing a complex target audience such as people with dementia. Researchers can encounter several challenges such as research being time-consuming, choosing the right paradigm and properly integrating quantitative and qualitative data (92). Dementia mixed-methods research that includes people with dementia as participants and caregivers can provide valuable contributions to dementia research (93). In some cases, a larger mixed method study is conducted whereby quantitative findings and qualitative findings are published separately, as was the case with Chapters 4 and 6. Quantitative data in Chapter 4 identified that about a third of informal caregivers were not helped by post-diagnostic support and the qualitative findings in Chapter 6 were helpful in understanding that the complexity of healthcare systems often contributed to dissatisfaction with support. In addition to mixed methods research, triangulation of the perspectives of different stakeholders is important in gaining a more complete overview of dementia diagnosis and post-diagnostic support. In this thesis, we incorporated the perspectives of people with dementia, caregivers and healthcare professionals. This approach enabled us to address the topic of communication from multiple perspectives revealing disparities in perceptions and experiences regarding communication between healthcare professionals, caregivers and people living with dementia. Research on dementia support is often situated within a national or local healthcare context. This might have implications for the transferability of the findings to healthcare systems in other countries as healthcare systems differ across countries (94). Conducting dementia research across borders can be powerful as it has the ability to include perspectives from different healthcare settings and increase sample sizes. Although some multi-country research on dementia has been emerging there is not always sufficient attention paid towards cross-country differences and similarities (95, 96). In this thesis, research was conducted in multiple countries (the Netherlands, Canada, Poland, the United Kingdom and Australia). In Chapter 6 we were able to show
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