The Development and Evaluation of an Analytical Framework to Explore Student Nurses' Cultural Beliefs of Dementia

People diagnosed with dementia need culturally sensitive, person-centered care to promote their health and well-being. Therefore, healthcare professionals should be able to provide culturally competent care, of which an element is the understanding of their own cultural heritage and how this impacts on their beliefs regarding dementia, as cultural norms and values provide meanings and understanding of chronic conditions such as dementia. This study used focus groups to explore the cultural beliefs of student nurses regarding dementia, generating a large set of qualitative data that required structure and a framework to analyze.

One purpose of this article was to present the methodological analysis, which encompasses the analytical framework. The second purpose was to apply the framework to elicit the cultural beliefs regarding dementia among student nurses from multiple national backgrounds.

Focus groups with student nurses from five higher education institutes in England, the Philippines, Slovenia, and New Zealand were conducted, audiotaped, and transcribed verbatim. The qualitative data were analyzed using the framework method of analysis. Data from the focus groups conducted at the two higher education institutes in England were analyzed by encompassed synthesizing, refining, and agreeing on the codes, categories, and themes that were established separately by four researchers. The developed analytical framework was then tested on the qualitative data obtained from the focus groups conducted in Slovenia, the Philippines, and New Zealand.

The results were presented in three parts: the cultural analytical framework, the process of developing the initial categories/themes, and the final themes that emerged from the data obtained from the focus groups.

An analytical framework was developed and applied to understand student nurses' cultural values and beliefs of dementia.