Knowledge, competence and educational needs of mental health staff on palliative care for the elderly with dementia

Dementia is a clinical syndrome for which the benefits of palliative care have been recognized. The aim of this study was to investigate the knowledge and educational needs of mental health physicians and nurses and also their perceptions of their competence regarding palliative care for the elderly with dementia. A total of 96 mental health professionals (doctors, nurses) working in a public psychiatric hospital and its allied community mental health settings participated in the study. The Palliative Care Quiz for Nursing (PCQN) was used to detect their knowledge on palliative care as well as a questionnaire to collect participants' demographics, their perceptions about their competence on palliative care provision and their educational needs on the basics domains of palliative care for the elderly with dementia. Results revealed participants' significant lack of knowledge (PCQN =7.79/20) and low perception of competence regarding palliative care for aged persons with dementia. Participants who were psychiatrists, who had work experience between 16-20 years and provided care to more than ten patients with terminal dementia per year, showed higher PCQN scores in statistically significant level (p=0.001). The majority (93.6%) of participants considered training in palliative care for dementia patients as necessary, particularly in providing information to family/carers, relieving the psychosocial burden of family/carers, managing the terminal stage of dementia, providing information to dementia patients and planning their advanced care. Findings of this study could inform the design of training programs on palliative care for the elderly with dementia in Greece.