Enhancing Person-Centred Dementia Care Through Self-Experience: European Perspectives From a Qualitative Study

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Healthcare Education
• Dementia Care Research

Background:

• Providing person-centred care for individuals with dementia necessitates understanding their unique perspectives.
• Self-experience practices, simulating dementia conditions, offer a potential method to cultivate empathy in caregivers.
• Existing caregiver training lacks comprehensive integration of experiential learning for dementia.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the contribution of self-experience practices to enhancing understanding and empathy towards people with dementia.
• To explore perspectives on the effectiveness and implementation of simulation-based dementia training.
• To identify key themes, barriers, and facilitators for integrating self-experience practices in dementia care education.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative approach utilizing focus groups and individual interviews with people with dementia, informal caregivers, and professionals.
• Data collected from Germany, Ireland, Italy, and the Netherlands.
• Qualitative content analysis and thematic synthesis of interview transcripts.

Main Results:

• Six analytical themes emerged across all participant groups and countries, supporting the potential of self-experience practices.
• Themes encompassed the rationale, impact, content, strategies, procedures, target groups, and implementation issues of these practices.
• Tailoring training, ensuring a supportive environment, and addressing ethical considerations are crucial for effectiveness.

Conclusions:

• Self-experience practices show promise for improving skill acquisition, care strategies, and theoretical understanding in dementia care.
• Ethical and implementation challenges require careful consideration for successful integration.
• Further international research is needed to establish consensus on self-experience dementia training practices.