Abstract
Few studies to date have evaluated dementia care in Malaysia, and the focus of studies has primarily been on epidemiological and laboratory research. In this study, we aimed to identify potential challenges for the delivery of dementia care in Malaysia and priorities for research and enhancing existing dementia care. This study used thematic analysis to evaluate the open and focus group workshop discussions guided by semi-structured questions. Triangulation of the collected data (sticky notes, collated field notes, and transcripts of discussions) was achieved through stakeholder consensus agreement during a workshop held in 2017. Five main themes as priorities for dementia care were identified: (1) availability of a valued multi-disciplinary care service, (2) accessibility of training to provide awareness, (3) the functionality of the governance in establishing regulation and policy to empower care services, (4) perceived availability and accessibility of research data, and (5) influence of cultural uniqueness. The findings of this study seek to enhance existing dementia care in Malaysia but have potential application for other low and middle-income countries with a similar social and health care set up. The constructed relationship between themes also tries to tackle the challenges in a more efficient and effective manner, as none of these aforementioned issues are standalone challenges. In addition, we demonstrated how a carefully constructed workshop with defined aims and objectives can provide a useful analysis tool to evaluate health and social care challenges in a multidisciplinary forum.
Highlights
The aim of this workshop was to bring together stakeholders involved in dementia research in Malaysia to generate consensus agreement on priorities for research on dementia care in Malaysia and negotiate the challenges to their delivery
An open discussion was first held, where all participants were individually invited to address to the wider group. This aimed to identify the potential challenges for the delivery of dementia care and priorities for research and enhancing existing dementia care in Malaysia
A discussion was conducted among the panel of experts, which was representative from public health, government, non-governmental organisations (NGO), academia, and the Ministry of Health (MoH) to identify five research priorities for research and enhancing existing dementia care topics for the focus group discussions
Summary
Dementia comprises a collection of symptoms and signs that includes multiple disturbances of higher cortical function [1] interfering with an individual’s ability to perform daily activities. The cognitive domains affected include memory, reasoning, orientation, comprehension, and calculation. Dementia is the leading chronic disorder and contributor to disability, dependency, and need for care among older people worldwide. To improve quality of life in dementia sufferers, effective dementia care is of paramount importance.
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