Attitudes of long-term care staff toward dementia and their related factors

ABSTRACTBackground: Attitudes of residential care staff toward residents with dementia affect the quality of care. We examined the attitude of frontline residential care staff toward residents with dementia, and how the presence of specialized care units or programs may affect staff attitude.Methods: Staff working in nursing homes participated in a survey which covered demographic data, current state of dementia care in workplace, opinion regarding dementia care, and perceived importance of dementia behaviors.Results: 1,047 nurses and personal care workers participated. 78.8% respondents reported difficulties in managing dementia residents. Those who ranked positive symptoms as more important were 4.5 times more likely to report difficulties, independent of experience. Independent factors associated with positive attitudes toward further training were working in a non-profit home (OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.1, 5.0; p = 0.024) and having a dementia program or unit in the current workplace (OR 1.8, 95% CI 0.985, 3.302; p = 0.056). Only having a dementia program or unit in the current workplace was associated with a positive attitude toward commitment to stay in dementia care (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.1, 3.2; p = 0.021), adjusted for gender, type of home, post, dementia prevalence in workplace, and work experience.Conclusion: The majority of long-term care staff felt dementia care difficult yet hold positive attitude toward further training and were committed to stay in dementia care. Having a specialized dementia care unit or program in the current workplace was associated with commitment to stay in dementia care and was marginally associated with positive attitude toward further training.

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ENHANCING PERSON-CENTERED DEMENTIA CARE BY NURSING HOME STAFF USING MICROLEARNING: LITTLE MESSAGE WITH A BIG IMPACT

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igz038.008 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. S3-S3

Author(s):

Jenny Inker ◽

Christine J Jensen ◽

Sonya Barsness

Keyword(s):

Job Satisfaction ◽

Nursing Home ◽

Focus Groups ◽

Long Term Care ◽

Dementia Care ◽

Care Staff ◽

Training Curriculum ◽

Term Care ◽

Online Platform

Abstract Effective training is critical to providing quality care in long-term care environments, where many residents have dementia. Training has been linked to positive resident care outcomes and improved job satisfaction of staff. The aim of this study was to develop, pilot, and evaluate a Microlearning training curriculum, using short (5-10 minute) “bursts” of training available through an online platform on demand (i.e. 24/7). The expected outcomes were to improve staff knowledge, attitudes, and skills regarding person-centered dementia care and to increase job satisfaction. Researchers translated the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Hand-in-Hand training curriculum into 52 weekly Microlearning lessons delivered via an online platform (accessible by computer, IPad or smart phone) followed by a short quiz. Using pre- and post-tests, nine focus groups, and fourteen telephone interviews, the researchers engaged with a convenience sample of staff (N = 244) working at all levels from direct care to leadership in nine nursing homes in Virginia. Pre- and post-tests comprised items from the Dementia Attitudes Scale and the Nursing Home Nurse Aide Job Satisfaction Scale. Results from a between subjects t-test demonstrated significant improvements in attitudes to people with dementia. Focus groups and interviews revealed high satisfaction with the training with a significant majority agreeing it was a helpful way to learn and that they were able to apply what they had learned to caring for residents. This pilot demonstrates a promising new practice for training long-term care staff. Further research using a control group receiving usual training is indicated.

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Presence redefined: The reciprocal nature of engagement between elder-clowns and persons with dementia

Dementia ◽

10.1177/1471301215580895 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

pp. 46-66 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Pia Kontos ◽

Karen-Lee Miller ◽

Gail Joyce Mitchell ◽

Jan Stirling-Twist

Keyword(s):

Long Term Care ◽

Qualitative Interviews ◽

Dementia Care ◽

Care Staff ◽

Severe Dementia ◽

Term Care ◽

Recent Innovation ◽

Care Relationships ◽

Embodied Engagement

Elder-clowns are a recent innovation in arts-based approaches to person-centred dementia care. They use improvisation, humour, and empathy, as well as song, dance, and music. We examined elder-clown practice and techniques through a 12-week programme with 23 long-term care residents with moderate to severe dementia in Ontario, Canada. Analysis was based on qualitative interviews and ethnographic observations of video-recorded clown-resident interactions and practice reflections. Findings highlight the reciprocal nature of clown-resident engagement and the capacity of residents to initiate as well as respond to verbal and embodied engagement. Termed relational presence, this was achieved and experienced through affective relationality, reciprocal playfulness, and coconstructed imagination. These results highlight the often overlooked capacity of individuals living with dementia to be deliberately funny, playful, and imaginative. Relational presence offers an important perspective with which to rethink care relationships between individuals living with dementia and long-term care staff.

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Effect of Dementia Training on Knowledge and Attitude Among Long-Term Care Staff in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences ◽

10.3889/oamjms.2021.6392 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (E) ◽

pp. 592-597

Author(s):

Sri Mulyani ◽

Azam David Saifullah

Keyword(s):

Long Term Care ◽

Skills Training ◽

Dementia Care ◽

Test Method ◽

Care Staff ◽

Term Care ◽

Staff Members ◽

Knowledge And Attitudes ◽

Knowledge And Attitude

BACKGROUND: The number of patients with dementia has increased globally. Caring for these patients is very challenging and demanding. There are many patients with dementia in long-term care facilities in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. However, most staff members do not have proper training regarding how to care for patients with dementia. AIM: This research aimed to investigate the effect of dementia care skills training on knowledge and attitudes about dementia among long-term care staff in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. METHODS: A pre-experimental study was conducted using a one-group pre-test and post-test method. There were 30 staff members in a long-term care facility in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, who participated in this study in July 2019. Training given was the Dementia Care Skills 18 h version for care workers provided by Alzheimer’s Indonesia by two certified trainers. Outcomes measured were knowledge and attitudes of the participants, which were measured using the Dementia Knowledge Assessment Scale and Dementia Attitude Scale. Data were analyzed using paired and independent t-tests as well as Pearson correlation tests. RESULTS: The results showed that staff knowledge of dementia (t = 4.78, p = 0.000) and attitudes toward persons with dementia (t = 3.27, p = 0.003) were improved significantly after the dementia training provided by the Alzheimer’s Indonesia trainers. CONCLUSIONS: Training in dementia care can improve knowledge and attitude of long-term care staff. This study recommends that dementia care skills training be provided for staff and nurses in long-term care to improve their knowledge and attitudes regarding patients with dementia and their care.

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Poetry Brings Out the Best in Us: Structured Poetry-Based Group Activity in Long-Term Care

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.2423 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 692-692

Author(s):

Daniel Kaplan ◽

Gary Glazner

Keyword(s):

Long Term Care ◽

Dementia Care ◽

Care Staff ◽

Creative Arts ◽

Care Providers ◽

Term Care ◽

Indirect Benefits ◽

Track Record ◽

Direct Benefits

Abstract The Alzheimer’s Poetry Project has a proven track record at over 500 facilities in 35 states and six countries, serving over 50,000 people worldwide, and has the ability to bring high-quality creative arts programming to people living with dementia in long-term care. We describe how volunteers and recreation and care staff can be trained to deliver the intervention, offering direct benefits for participants and indirect benefits when modeled in the presence of providers and family members. Basic validation techniques are easily learned and incorporated into diverse dementia care strategies. As activity programs based in creative arts help to support self-expression among participants and serve as a vehicle for generating feelings of self-efficacy, we explain how such activities are well suited to fostering the person-centered goals of dementia care programming. Clinicians and other transdisciplinary care providers are encouraged to use and teach validation-focused arts interventions with persons living with dementia.

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Micro-citizenship, dementia and long-term care

Dementia ◽

10.1177/1471301216638762 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 15 (3) ◽

pp. 289-303 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Clive Baldwin ◽

Michelle Greason

Keyword(s):

Social Inclusion ◽

Long Term Care ◽

Dementia Care ◽

Care Staff ◽

Care Practice ◽

Family Carers ◽

Front Line ◽

Term Care ◽

People With Dementia

In recent years there has been an increasing interest in the concept of citizenship as a lens through which to understand dementia practice. This move from an individualist, personhood-based approach towards an understanding of people with dementia as a group facing social and structural discrimination parallels, in some ways, that previously seen in the realms of disability and mental health which have sought to politicize those experiences. In so doing, the debate has sought to reconfigure power relations, insisting that members of such discriminated groups are people with power entitled to the same from life as everyone else. Much of the discussion to date has, understandably, focused on the larger issues of social inclusion, rights and responsibilities – reflecting the traditional concern of citizenship of individuals’ relationship to the state or the society in which they live. More recently, there has been a move to conceptualising citizenship as a practice – something that is realised through action and in relationship – rather than a status bestowed. In this paper, we seek to contribute to the discussion by introducing the concepts of midi- and micro-citizenship, taken from organisation studies, as a further means by which to link the personal and the political, and as grounds to build citizenship-alliances between people with dementia living in long-term care (LTC) facilities and front-line dementia care staff. We will then seek to illustrate the usefulness of these concepts in understanding citizenship in practice in LTC facilities through analysis of data drawn from focus groups involving LTC staff, and interviews with family carers whose relatives live in LTC facilities. In conclusion, we will explore some of the possibilities that such an approach holds for dementia care practice.

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PerCEN trial participant perspectives on the implementation and outcomes of person-centered dementia care and environments

International Psychogeriatrics ◽

10.1017/s1041610215001350 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 27 (12) ◽

pp. 2045-2057 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Lynn Chenoweth ◽

Yun-Hee Jeon ◽

Jane Stein-Parbury ◽

Ian Forbes ◽

Richard Fleming ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Long Term Care ◽

Well Being ◽

Dementia Care ◽

Team Work ◽

Care Staff ◽

Trial Participant ◽

Term Care ◽

People With Dementia ◽

Field Note

ABSTRACTBackground:Well-being and various forms of agitation in people with dementia can be improved in a person-centered long-term care setting. Data obtained during the Person-Centered Dementia Care and Environment (PerCEN) randomized controlled trial shed light on the factors that influenced the adoption and outcomes of person-centered interventions in long-term care from the perspective of study participants.Methods:Data were obtained from PerCEN participants: individual semi-structured interviews with care managers (29), nurses and care staff (70); telephone surveys with family members (73); staff reports of care approaches; and 131 field note entries recorded by the person-centered care and environment facilitators. Data were interpreted inductively using content analysis, code building, theme development, and synthesis of findings.Results:All data sources confirmed that, when adopted, the person-centered model increased the number and variety of opportunities for resident interaction, improved flexibility in care regimens, enhanced staff's attention to resident needs, reduced resident agitation, and improved their well-being. Barriers and enablers for the person-centered model related to leadership, manager, staff and family appreciation of the model, staff's capacity, effective communication and team work among direct care staff, care service flexibility, and staff education on how to focus care on the person's well-being.Conclusions:Successful knowledge translation of the person-centered model starts with managerial leadership and support; it is sustained when staff are educated and assisted to apply the model, and, along with families, come to appreciate the benefits of flexible care services and teamwork in achieving resident well-being. The Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry number is ACTRN 12608000095369.

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Working at Green Care Farms and Other Innovative Small-Scale Long-Term Dementia Care Facilities Requires Different Competencies of Care Staff

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph182010747 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (20) ◽

pp. 10747

Author(s):

Bram de Boer ◽

Yvette Buist ◽

Simone R. de Bruin ◽

Ramona Backhaus ◽

Hilde Verbeek

Keyword(s):

Long Term Care ◽

Care Facility ◽

Dementia Care ◽

Care Staff ◽

Small Scale ◽

Term Care ◽

Diverse Range ◽

Care Facilities ◽

Green Care Farms

The culture change movement within long-term care in which radical changes in the physical, social and organizational care environments are being implemented provides opportunities for the development of innovative long-term care facilities. The aim of this study was to investigate which competencies care staff working at green care farms and other innovative types of small-scale long-term dementia care facilities require, according to care staff themselves and managers, and how these competencies were different from those of care staff working in more traditional large-scale long-term dementia care facilities. A qualitative descriptive research design was used. Interviews were conducted with care staff (n = 19) and managers (n = 23) across a diverse range of long-term facilities. Thematic content analysis was used. Two competencies were mainly mentioned by participants working in green care farms: (1) being able to integrate activities for residents into daily practice, and (2) being able to undertake multiple responsibilities. Two other competencies for working in long-term dementia care in general were identified: (3) having good communication skills, and (4) being able to provide medical and direct care activities. This study found unique competencies at green care farms, showing that providing care in innovative long-term care facilities requires looking further than the physical environment and the design of a care facility; it is crucial to look at the role of care staff and the competencies they require.

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Evaluation of a Workshop on Therapeutic Lying and Dementia Care for Long-Term Care Staff Supporting Persons With Dementia

The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing ◽

10.3928/00220124-20210804-10 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 52 (9) ◽

pp. 438-444

Author(s):

Benjamin Hartung ◽

Calen Freeman ◽

Haddas Grosbein ◽

Anna Theresa Santiago ◽

Sandra Gardner ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Long Term Care ◽

Dementia Care ◽

Care Staff ◽

Term Care

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Communication Disordered: Program Implementation in Long-Term Care

Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups ◽

10.1044/persp1.sig15.64 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 1 (15) ◽

pp. 64-67

Author(s):

George Barnes ◽

Joseph Salemi

Keyword(s):

Program Implementation ◽

Long Term Care ◽

Family Satisfaction ◽

Regulatory Compliance ◽

Care Staff ◽

Term Care ◽

Staff Members ◽

Change Policy

The organizational structure of long-term care (LTC) facilities often removes the rehab department from the interdisciplinary work culture, inhibiting the speech-language pathologist's (SLP's) communication with the facility administration and limiting the SLP's influence when implementing clinical programs. The SLP then is unable to change policy or monitor the actions of the care staff. When the SLP asks staff members to follow protocols not yet accepted by facility policy, staff may be unable to respond due to confusing or conflicting protocol. The SLP needs to involve members of the facility administration in the policy-making process in order to create successful clinical programs. The SLP must overcome communication barriers by understanding the needs of the administration to explain how staff compliance with clinical goals improves quality of care, regulatory compliance, and patient-family satisfaction, and has the potential to enhance revenue for the facility. By taking this approach, the SLP has a greater opportunity to increase safety, independence, and quality of life for patients who otherwise may not receive access to the appropriate services.

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