Caring for people with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or other dementias is a major challenge for society. The figures show that the incidence and prevalence of this condition are increasing. Dementia is a health problem difficult to deal with due to the lack of curative treatment, the progression of the disease and the high demand for care.
This condition needs a comprehensive therapeutic approach, which special relevance for nursing care. So, nursing professionals should have specific education and training to deliver high quality care. Literature review shows the existence of gaps in the knowledge among healthcare professionals. Assessing the overall knowledge on AD and identifying areas with a knowledge deficit , both in nursing staff and nursing students, are key actions to improve the care provided to these patients.
A number of questionnaires and scales have been developed to measure this knowledge in the Anglo-Saxon context. However, in the Spanish context we have not found any appropriate instrument. This research has addressed the elaboration and validation of a scale to measure the knowledge on AD and dementias care.
Reseachers
- Laura Parra-Anguita. Departament of Nursing. Universidad de Jaen. ORCID
- Pedro L. Pancorbo-Hidalgo. Departament of Nursing. Universidad de Jaen. ORCID
Objectives
The main objective of the project was:
- To develop and establish the psychometric properties of a scale to measure the level of knowledge about care for people with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, that could be used with nursing staff and nursing students.
The specific objectives were:
- Development of a scale of knowledge on care recommendations from the current clinical practice guidelines on Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.
- To establish the content validity of the scale.
- Assessment of the psychometric properties (validity and reliability) of the scale.
Methods
The project has been developed in the following phases:
- Preparation of the scale. By literature review and searching for current clinical practice guidelines. Assessment of the quality of the guidelines. Extraction of recommendations.
- Content validity. Evaluation by an expert panel. Pilot test of the initial version.
- Validity of the scale. Validation study with a sample a Nursing homes staff and with nursing students from the University of Jaen.
Results
1 Development of the scale of knowledge about Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias care.
The tool developed was called UJA Alzheimer`s Care Scale. The scale, its use instructions and scoring could be downloaded from these links:
The questionnaire Dementia Knowledge Assessment Tool 2 has been translated into Spanish and validated.
2 Nursing staff from Nursing homes knowledge
- Knowledge about the Care of People with Alzheimer’s Disease of the Nursing Staff of Nursing Homes in Spain. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(24), 4907 (full text)
3 Nursing students knowledge
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Undergraduate nursing students’ knowledge of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias care. J. Professional Nursing, 2022, 39: 101-108. (full text)
