Nursing Staff’s Knowledge and Attitudes toward Dementia: A Pilot Study from an Indian Perspective

Abstract

Background: Despite the increased prevalence of dementia in India, reports indicate little awareness of the disease. Symptoms are often misinterpreted or neglected, which could lead to late diagnosis, reducing the choices available regarding future care. Considering that most nurses caring for the elderly will work with people with dementia in the future, there is concern surrounding their ability to meet the needs of these patients, requiring them to obtain the necessary knowledge and positive attitudes for treatment. Aims: To describe the knowledge of and attitudes toward dementia among nursing staff working in residential care facilities for elderly populations in India. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 3 nursing homes in India in which 15 nursing staff conducted self-assessments of their knowledge and attitudes toward dementia using the Alzheimer's Disease Knowledge Scale (ADKS) and the Attitude toward Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias Scale (DAS) for each respective assessment. Descriptive statistics were used to describe staffs' attitudes and knowledge concerning dementia. Continuous variables were presented as means ± SD, while the categorical variables were presented as percentages. Results: Although the majority of the participants answered that Alzheimer's disease cannot be cured, about half reported that people with dementia, in rare cases, can recover from the disease. While all participants agreed that people with dementia can feel when others are kind to them, almost half disagreed that people living with dementia can enjoy life. Conclusion: These findings reveal that nursing staff have limited knowledge of dementia, but their attitudes toward people living with dementia tend to be positive.

Nursing Staff’s Knowledge and Attitudes towards Dementia in an Indian Nursing Home: A Qualitative Interview Study

“…However, several participants in our study thought that a person with dementia could improve over time and even become “normal again.” This finding is consistent with the results of previous studies of Indian nursing students [ 17 ], Indian doctors and nurses [ 20 ], and Pakistani adults [ 26 ] in which the participants believed that symptoms may improve over time or even that the person could be cured. This is also in line with the study of Strøm et al [ 25 ], who reported that, although the majority of the healthcare staff in 6 Indian nursing homes answered that Alzheimer disease could not be cured, about half of them said that people with dementia, in rare cases, could recover from the disease. Believing that dementia can be cured could have an impact on how the care is organized.…”

“…This finding is in accordance with Poreddi et al [17], who reported that Indian nursing students have an overall positive attitude toward people with dementia. An overall positive attitude toward dementia was also found in the study of Strøm et al [25], in which Indian healthcare staff said that it was rewarding to work with people with dementia; however, they also indicated that they were not familiar with dementia, felt frustrated, and did not know how to help the people.…”

“…This notwithstanding, their overall attitude toward dementia was positive. These finding are consistent with a survey conducted in India by Strøm et al [25], which revealed that nursing staff have a limited knowledge of dementia but their attitudes toward people living with dementia tend to be positive. Similar findings have been published by Biswas et al [20], who reported a deficiency of knowledge about dementia among healthcare professionals in India.…”

Effect of Education on Knowledge, Attitude, and Performance of Elderly Caretakers in Nursing Homes of Mashhad City

“…This nding shows the severity of lack of knowledge in the caretakers that could not reach the next level after four sessions of education and suggest that continuing the education could result in a more noticeable increase in the caretakers' knowledge scores. Previous studies have also shown poor knowledge of the caretakers of nursing homes [17,20,21]. In the qualitative study by Yektatalab and colleagues (2012), the nurses working at a nursing home of Shiraz had limited knowledge about the aspects of care for residents of the nursing home with Alzheimer's disease and provided unprofessional care to these patients [17].…”

Quantifying Knowledge of Alzheimer’s Disease: An Analysis of the Psychometric Properties of the Alzheimer’s Disease Knowledge Scale

“…AD Alzheimer's diseaseSouth Korea, and healthcare professionals in Australia, Brazil, China, India, Malaysia, and Spain[8,10,[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. It was also administered to laypeople in Brazil, and was included as a knowledge resource on the website of the Alzheimer's Association in the USA…”