A Meta-Ethnography of Paid Dementia Care Workers’ Perspectives on Their Jobs

Abstract

BackgroundWhile much work has been to evaluate paid workers’ perspectives on the care they provide dementia patients, there is no evidence of any systematic review of this topic.MethodsWe conducted a meta-ethnography of the topic “paid dementia care workers’ perspectives on their jobs.” Multiple databases were searched for qualitative work that reported on workers’ opinions and perspectives on their jobs in dementia care, including all settings and types of jobs. A final group of 34 articles were included, and their themes and constructs synthesized using a meta-ethnographic approach developed by Noblit and Hare.ResultsFive overarching themes uncovered: approach to care, education and training, emotional impact of the work, organizational factors, and relationships on the job. We also describe how the themes are related to each other.ConclusionsInterplay of the theme areas shows the importance of dementia- specific education and training in terms of the approach to care and emotional impact of the work. Closing the gap between policy and practice is critical, but achieving this will require that attention be paid to dementia-specific education for all workers, including care leaders.

Health care experiences of people with dementia and their caregivers: a meta-ethnographic analysis of qualitative studies

“…77 Additional education about dementia and its management may help provide health care providers with these skills. 73,74,76,78,79 There are several specific changes to dementia care that may improve the health care experience of patients and their caregivers. Outreach and public education strategies can be successful in raising awareness of dementia and helping people identify cognitive changes sooner in order to bring these changes to the attention of primary care providers earlier.…”

“…45 Caregiver: "You have to have the kind of doctor that is caring and will take time to discuss this with you because if you don't, if you have one that really doesn't have time for you, it can be terrible." process of diagnostic disclosure, 72 the experiences of caregivers of people with cognitive impairment, 73 and the experiences of health care providers in caring for patients with dementia. 73 Together, these studies and our review suggest that the health care experience of patients and caregivers is less than optimal and that several areas of this experience could be improved.…”

“…process of diagnostic disclosure, 72 the experiences of caregivers of people with cognitive impairment, 73 and the experiences of health care providers in caring for patients with dementia. 73 Together, these studies and our review suggest that the health care experience of patients and caregivers is less than optimal and that several areas of this experience could be improved. Similar findings have also been identified in other patient populations.…”

Nutrition Care for Residents with Dementia in Long-Term Care Homes: Umbrella Review of Care Aide and Registered Dietitian Services

“…However, organizational factors must be in place to support staff practices in order for them to be successfully implemented and maintained (27). An examination of dementia care workers concluded that while education is an essential component of providing quality care, particularly person-centered care, education can contribute to staff distress when they are unable to perform according to the training due to organizational constraints (28).…”

A systematic review and critical appraisal of qualitative metasynthetic practice in public health to develop a taxonomy of operations of reciprocal translation

“…One metasynthesis (Stankov et al, 2012) was returned uniquely by MEDLINE. Three metasyntheses were returned uniquely by Embase (Agudelo-Suarez et al, 2012;Cook et al, 2012;Heaton et al, 2012). Eight metasyntheses (Birnbaum and Saini, 2012;Cohen and Collens, 2013;Corcoran et al, 2012;Dillon et al, 2012;Gill and Fox, 2012;Hodge et al, 2012;Malpass et al, 2012;York and Wiseman, 2012) were returned uniquely by PsycINFO.…”