Abstract
BackgroundKnowledge of and attitudes towards dementia vary across countries, and for caregivers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), access to information can be challenging. There is an urgent need for brief, easily accessible and culturally appropriate educational courses for caregivers of persons with dementia, providing much needed information whilst addressing important psychological concepts such as stigma.MethodsAn international and multidisciplinary team developed Dementia Awareness for Caregivers (DAC) courses in four stages: (1) scoping review and module agreement, (2) development of an International template (DAC-International) containing a standardised process for adding information, (3) development of local DACs using a standardised format and (4) acceptability of courses in Brazil, India and Tanzania.FindingsThe DAC-International was developed, comprising three modules: ‘What is dementia?’; ‘Positive engagement’ and ‘Caring for someone with dementia’. Three local versions were developed from this (DAC-Brazil, DAC-India and DAC-Tanzania), where additions of country-specific information included prevalent stereotypes and the addition of culturally relevant case studies. An initial field test was conducted in each country (n = 85), which indicated acceptability to participants.ConclusionsThe methods used here resulted in culturally valid and acceptable educational courses for carers of people with dementia. Future work will consist of large-scale, formal evaluations and the development of additional local courses.
Highlights
Knowledge of and attitudes towards dementia vary across countries, and for caregivers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), access to information can be challenging
All trials examined the effects of a structured education programme devised to cover a set of pre-defined topics relevant to dementia caring and the caregiver role, specific to the country in question
Shorter programmes were more effective than longer programmes (p = 0.03) for burden. This was especially true for LMICs (Peru and Russia) where the effect on caregiver burden was more than in high income countries (HIC)
Summary
Knowledge of and attitudes towards dementia vary across countries, and for caregivers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), access to information can be challenging. There is an urgent need for brief, accessible and culturally appropriate educational courses for caregivers of persons with dementia, providing much needed information whilst addressing important psychological concepts such as stigma. Methods: An international and multidisciplinary team developed Dementia Awareness for Caregivers (DAC) courses in four stages: (1) scoping review and module agreement, (2) development of an International template (DAC-International) containing a standardised process for adding information, (3) development of local DACs using a standardised format and (4) acceptability of courses in Brazil, India and Tanzania. Three local versions were developed from this (DAC-Brazil, DAC-India and DAC-Tanzania), where additions of country-specific information included prevalent stereotypes and the addition of culturally relevant case studies. Conclusions: The methods used here resulted in culturally valid and acceptable educational courses for carers of people with dementia. Future work will consist of large-scale, formal evaluations and the development of additional local courses
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