Does personal experience of dementia change attitudes? The Bristol and South Gloucestershire survey of dementia attitudes

Abstract

We recommend you cite the published version. The publisher's URL is: https://doi.org/10.1177/1471301217752707Refereed: Yes (no note) Disclaimer UWE has obtained warranties from all depositors as to their title in the material deposited and as to their right to deposit such material. UWE makes no representation or warranties of commercial utility, title, or fitness for a particular purpose or any other warranty, express or implied in respect of any material deposited.UWE makes no representation that the use of the materials will not infringe any patent, copyright, trademark or other property or proprietary rights. UWE accepts no liability for any infringement of intellectual property rights in any material deposited but will remove such material from public view pending investigation in the event of an allegation of any such infringement. is associated with differences in attitudes towards dementia.Methods: a modified version of the ADQ was completed by 2,201 participants, either on-line or in written form. Participants also recorded their age, gender and ethnicity as well as whether they worked with people with dementia, or had been personally affected by dementia.Results: increased contact with people with dementia was associated with increases in both total ADQ scores and across both sub-scales reflecting more positive personcentred attitudes toward dementia. The highest levels of increase were found amongst non-white participants.Conclusions: this study is, we believe, the first attempt to look systematically at whether greater contact with people with dementia is associated with changes in attitudes. The results strongly support the contention that increased contact with people with dementia leads to more person-centred attitudes, and by inference, less stigmatising views.Keywords: dementia; Alzheimer's disease; community care; stigma; attitudes; social support.3 BackgroundA key element of government policy within the United Kingdom (UK) and elsewhere has been to build dementia-friendly communities, and to reduce the stigma that people with dementia face (Department of Health, 2012). In order for these aims to be achieved, public attitudes towards people with dementia need to become more person-centred. However, it is unclear how attitudes towards people with dementia are formed and whether, for instance, increased contact with people with dementia, either through work or personal experience alters attitudes.Previously research in this area has typically focussed on attitudes of professionals working with individuals living with dementia (e.g., Kokkonen et al., 2014;Leung et al., 2013;Lintern, 2001) In the wider mental health literature, increased levels of contact have been associated with a positive impact on attitudes and a reduction of stigma (London and 4 Evans -Lacko, 2010;Couture and Penn, 2003;Clement et al, 2015). While there is an assumption that increased contact with people with dementia will break down barriers, improve attitudes and help to overcome stigma, not all research findings suggest ...

Virtual reality program to develop dementia‐friendly communities in Japan

“…6 Additionally, experiencing dementia promoted participants' understanding, thereby reducing the stigma of dementia. 29 We found similar results for the participants' total sense of community scores. The improvement in the sense of community is consistent with a previous study, in which dementia education enhanced the general population's empathy for people with dementia, leading to the community's involvement in supporting people with dementia.…”

Acute hospital staff’s attitudes towards dementia and perceived dementia knowledge: a cross-sectional survey in Ireland

“…The survey was available to complete electronically through a survey link of SurveyMonkey [43] that was sent to staff email addresses via a gatekeeper. Hard copy surveys were also available in all patient care areas to complete and return to a central location via internal mail for those without access to or unable to use a computer [40,44]. All grades of staff including support staff (e.g.…”

“…disease prevalence, symptoms, risk factors, prevention, assessment or treatment) to more specifically guide educational initiatives to help sensitize individuals to what they do not know about dementia [38]. Thirdly, the study might have benefitted from having more specific information or factors explaining the level of dementia awareness and knowledge in hospital staff, including overall educational level [36,41], whether they worked or were in contact with people living with dementia on a daily basis [40] or their confidence level working with people living with dementia [31].…”

“…The study by Cheston and colleagues (2016) suggested that individuals with personal experience of dementia held more positive attitudes towards dementia than those with no experience of dementia [38], whereas McParland and colleagues (2012) demonstrated that the experience of knowing someone with dementia did improve dementia knowledge [39], but contrary to what one might expect, it was not a strong indicator for a more positive attitude. A recent study using the validated measure Approaches to Dementia Questionnaire (ADQ) to assess participants' attitudes towards dementia demonstrated that increased contact with people living with dementia was associated with increased ADQ scores reflecting more hope and person-centred attitudes towards dementia [40].…”

Acute hospital staff’s attitudes towards dementia and perceived dementia knowledge: a cross-sectional survey in Ireland

“…(37)), but contrary to what one might expect, it was not a strong indicator for a more positive attitude. A recent study using the validated measure Approaches to Dementia Questionnaire (ADQ) to assess participants' attitudes towards dementia demonstrated that increased contact with people with dementia was associated with increased ADQ scores re ecting more hope and person-centred attitudes towards dementia (40).…”