Table 1 Overview of search strategy for Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the review

 Phase 1 databases

ProQuest Pro (2010–December 2015): this contains 13 databases including British Nursing Index, PsychINFO, and SocialSciences collection; Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), MEDLINE, EBSCO, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Health Technology Assessment (HTA) database, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines, Google Scholar

 Focus of search

Search terms (PubMed)

  Broad scoping searches

Key words used in the searches included: dementia (Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia) diabetes (type 1 diabetes mellitus [T1DM] and type 2 diabetes mellitus [T2DM]), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), frail elderly, self-management (self-care), chronic illness, case-management, assistive technology (telemedicine/care), severe mental illness, family carer, social support, eating/meal times, medicine management (adherence), exercise/leisure, health and social care professionals

 Phase 2 databases

1990–March 2016: MEDLINE (PubMed), CINAHL, Scopus, Cochrane Library (incl. the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews), Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE), HTA database, National Health Service Economic Evaluation Database (NHS EED), AgeInfo (Centre for Policy on Ageing, UK), Social Care Online, National Institute for Health Research portfolio database, NHS Evidence, Google, Google Scholar

 Focus of search

Search terms (PubMed)

  A1: Diabetes and Dementia — Theory Area 1 (clinically based approach)

#1 Diabetes search terms: “diabetes” OR “insulin” OR “hypoglycaemia” OR “hyperglycaemia” OR “glycaemic control” OR “glycemic control” OR “hba1c” OR hypoglycaem* OR hypoglycemi* OR hyperglycaem* OR hyperglycem*

#2 Dementia search terms: “dementia” OR “alzheimer” OR “alzheimers” OR “mild cognitive impairment” OR “cognitive impairment” OR dement* OR alzheimer* OR MCI

#3 = #1 AND #2

#4 study type terms: manage* OR treat* OR intervention* OR programme* OR program* OR controlled OR randomized OR randomised OR interview* OR qualitative OR trial OR “randomised controlled trial” OR “intervention study”

#5 = #3 AND #4

#6 = #5 Not “cross sectional study” OR “epidemiological studies” OR “case control” OR “cohort study” OR “cross sectional studies”

All restricted to Title/Abstract, includes both Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and free text

  A2: Diabetes and Dementia — Theory Area 2 (collaborative partnerships)

#1 Same diabetes search terms as A1

#2 Same dementia search terms as A1

#3 = #1 AND #2

#4 Self-management terms: “self care” OR “self management” OR “self medication” OR “self administration” OR “minimally disruptive medicine” OR “adherence” OR “shared decision making” OR “patient preference” OR “patient participation” OR “patient involvement” OR “patient centred care” OR “personalised care” OR “individualised care” OR partnership OR collaboration Filters: Publication date from 1990/01/01

#5 = #3 AND #4

All restricted to Title/Abstract, includes both MeSH and free text

  A3, B3, C3: Diabetes and Dementia — Theory Area 3 (co-production). This area produced very few hits, so all searches (A, B, C) were combined

#1 Same diabetes terms as A1

#2 Same dementia terms as A1

#3 = #1 OR #2

#4 “co production” OR “co design” OR “codesign” OR “coproduction” OR “co creation” OR co-produc* OR coproduc* OR co-design* OR codesign* OR co-creat* OR cocreat* OR co-commission* OR cocommission Filters: Publication date from 1990/01/01

#5 = #3 AND #4

  B1: Dementia only Theory Area 1 (clinically based approach)

#1 Same dementia terms as A1

#2 diet OR exercise OR blood glucose OR blood pressure OR medication OR adherence OR self management. Filters: Publication date from 1990/01/01

#3 = #1 AND #2

#4 Same study type terms as A1

  B2: Dementia only Theory Area 2 (collaborative partnerships)

#1 Same dementia terms as A1

#2 Same self-management terms as A2

#3 = #1 AND #2

  C1: Diabetes only Theory Area 1 (clinically based approach)

Large area so agreed we would use clinical guidelines (e.g. Sinclair recent guidelines) as these provide up-to-date evidence

  C2: Diabetes only Theory Area 2 (collaborative partnerships)

#1 Same diabetes terms as A1

#2 “frailty” OR “older” OR “elderly” OR “geriatric” OR “elder” OR “aged” Filters: Publication date from 1990/01/01 — all MeSH

#3 Same self-management terms as A2

#4 = #1 AND #2 AND #3

Additional search: Tailored Care

#1 Tailored care OR tailoring OR individualised care OR individualized care OR personalised care OR personalized care or needs based care (all MESH)

#2 tailored OR tailor* OR individualised OR individualized OR personalised OR personalized OR “needs based” (all Title/Abstract)

#3 #1 OR #2

#4 multimorbidity OR multimorbid Or comorbidity OR comorbid OR frailty (all MESH)

#5 #3 AND #4

#6 Same study type terms as A1

#7 = #5 AND #6