Rural general practitioner confidence in diagnosing and managing dementia: A two-stage, mixed methods study of dementia-specific training.

coordinated care models of rural service delivery remote and rural education rural general practice rural health

Journal

The Australian journal of rural health
ISSN: 1440-1584
Titre abrégé: Aust J Rural Health
Pays: Australia
ID NLM: 9305903

Informations de publication

Date de publication:
24 Jan 2024
Historique:
revised: 16 10 2023
received: 24 05 2022
accepted: 07 01 2024
medline: 25 1 2024
pubmed: 25 1 2024
entrez: 25 1 2024
Statut: aheadofprint

Résumé

Dementias a prevalent chronic healthcare condition affecting 46 million people worldwide and projected to grow in the coming years. Australians living in rural and regional areas often lack access to specialist dementia care, despite greater prevalence relative to metropolitan areas. This study aimed to explore general practitioners (GP) understanding, confidence and attitudes towards dementia management in the rural context, and design and pilot a dementia-specific training program. A two-stage, mixed methods design, using qualitative and quantitative methods. Sixteen regional GPs from across Victoria participated in scoping semi-structured interviews. Fourteen separate GPs in the St Anthony Family Medical Practice group in the regional Loddon-Mallee area of Victoria completed the pilot training intervention. Pre- and post-training surveys (n = 10), as well as post-training interviews (n = 10), assessed attitude and knowledge changes. Analysis of semi-structured scoping interviews indicated three themes regarding experience of dementia management, including: (1) attitudes to and experiences of dementia; (2) supporting people living with dementia; and (3) knowledge, education and training of dementia. The pilot dementia-specific training was found to improve attitudes (agreement across 24 best-practice indicators improved from 30% to 79%), knowledge (median increase of 2.5/10) and confidence in managing dementia and disclosing dementia diagnoses (median increase 3/10 and 2.75/10, respectively). General practitioners in this study lacked initial confidence in detecting and managing dementia in a rural primary care setting. A targeted training program showed improvements in these areas. Accessible, locally delivered, dementia education has the potential to improve confidence in early detection and management of people with dementia and thereby may address gaps in access to care for people living with dementia in rural settings.

Identifiants

pubmed: 38268187
doi: 10.1111/ajr.13082
doi:

Types de publication

Journal Article

Langues

eng

Subventions

Organisme : Monash University
Organisme : Murray Primary Health Network
Organisme : Dementia Training and Study Centre, La Trobe University

Informations de copyright

© 2024 The Authors. Australian Journal of Rural Health published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of National Rural Health Alliance Ltd.

Références

ADI. The global impact of dementia: An analysis of prevalence, incidence, cost and trends. https://www.alzint.org/resource/world-alzheimer-report-2015/ World Alzheimer Report 2015. Available from: http://www.alz.co.uk/research/WorldAlzheimerReport2015.pdf.
AIHW. Dementia in Australia. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/dementia/dementia-in-aus/contents/summary. 2023. Available from: https://www.aihw.gov.au/.
Ganguli M, Blacker D, Blazer DG, Grant I, Jeste DV, Paulsen JS, et al. Classification of neurocognitive disorders in DSM-5: a work in progress. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2011;19(3):205-210.
Woods RT, Moniz-Cook E, Iliffe S, Campion P, Vernooij-Dassen M, Zanetti O, et al. Dementia: issues in early recognition and intervention in primary care. J R Soc Med. 2003;96(7):320-324.
Woods B, Arosio F, Diaz A, Gove D, Holmerová I, Kinnaird L, et al. Timely diagnosis of dementia? Family carers' experiences in 5 European countries. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2019;34(1):114-121.
Surr CA, Gates C, Irving D, Oyebode J, Smith SJ, Parveen S, et al. Effective dementia education and training for the health and social care workforce: a systematic review of the literature. Rev Educ Res. 2017;87(5):966-1002.
Low LF. Communicating a diagnosis of dementia: a systematic mixed studies review of attitudes and practices of health practitioners. Dementia (London). 2019;18(7-8):2856-2905.
Kaduszkiewicz H, Wiese B, van den Bussche H. Self-reported competence, attitude and approach of physicians towards patients with dementia in ambulatory care: results of a postal survey. BMC Health Serv Res. 2008;8:54.
Turner S, Iliffe S, Downs M, Wilcock J, Bryans M, Levin E, et al. General practitioners' knowledge, confidence and attitudes in the diagnosis and management of dementia. Age Ageing. 2004;33(5):461-467.
Wright J, Glenister KM, Thwaites R, Terry D. The importance of adequate referrals for chronic kidney disease. Aust J Gen Pract. 2018;47(1-2):58-62.
Casey AN, Islam MM, Schütze H, Parkinson A, Yen L, Shell A, et al. GP awareness, practice, knowledge and confidence: evaluation of the first nation-wide dementia-focused continuing medical education program in Australia. BMC Fam Pract. 2020;21(1):104.
Angela GC. Dementia and the role of the GP in the 21st century: the significance of rural general practice. PhD Thesis, Monash University; 2016.
Kaduszkiewicz H, Bachmann C, van den Bussche H. Telling “the truth” in dementia-do attitude and approach of general practitioners and specialists differ? Patient Educ Couns. 2008;70(2):220-226.
Arsenault-Lapierre G, Le Berre M, Rojas-Rozo L, McAiney C, Ingram J, Lee L, et al. Improving dementia care: insights from audit and feedback in interdisciplinary primary care sites. BMC Health Serv Res. 2022;22(1):1-13.
Lee L, Hillier LM, Patel T, Weston WW. A decade of dementia care training: learning needs of primary care clinicians. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2020;40(2):131-140.
Department of Health and Human Services. Loddon Mallee Region 2015. In: Victoria DoHaHS, editor. Melbourne, Vic.: Department of Health and Human Services Victoria; 2017.
Disler R, Pascoe A, Anderson H, Piejko E, Asaid A, Disler P. A new model for general practice-led, regional, community-based, memory clinics. BMC Primary Care. 2022;23(1):242.
Braun V, Clarke V. Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qual Res Psychol. 2006;3(2):77-101.
Department of Health. National Framework for Action on Dementia 2015-2019. Canberra: Department of Health; 2015.
Department of Health and Aged Care. National Dementia Action Plan: consultation paper summary. Australian Government: Australian Government; 2022.
Koch T, Iliffe S. Rapid appraisal of barriers to the diagnosis and management of patients with dementia in primary care: a systematic review. BMC Fam Pract. 2010;11:52.
Meeuwsen EJ, Melis RJ, Van Der Aa GC, Golüke-Willemse GA, De Leest BJ, Van Raak FH, et al. Effectiveness of dementia follow-up care by memory clinics or general practitioners: randomised controlled trial. BMJ. 2012;344:e3086.
Brodaty H, Low LF, Gibson L, Burns K. What is the best dementia screening instrument for general practitioners to use? Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2006;14(5):391-400.
Speechly CM, Bridges-Webb C, Passmore E. The pathway to dementia diagnosis. Med J Aust. 2008;189(9):487-489.
Carrier A, Levasseur M, Freeman A, Mullins G, Quénec'hdu S, Lalonde L, et al. Influence of societal and practice contexts on health professionals' clinical reasoning: a scoping study protocol. BMJ Open. 2013;3(4):e002887.
Shaban RZ. Accounting for assessments of mental illness in paramedic practice: a new theoretical framework. J Emerg Prim Health Care. 2005;3(3):1-10.
Booth B, Lawrance R. Quality assurance and continuing education needs of rural and remote general practitioners: how are they changing? Aust J Rural Health. 2001;9(6):265-274.
Allan JA, Schaefer D. Do the learning needs of rural and urban general practitioners differ? Aust J Rural Health. 2005;13(6):337-342.
Access Economics. Keeping dementia front of mind: incidence and prevalence 2009-2050. Alzheimer's Australia; 2009. https://www.dementia.org.au/sites/default/files/20090800_Nat__AE_FullKeepDemFrontMind.pdf. Accessed 9 Nov 2018.
Pope C, Mays N, editors. Qualitative research in health care. Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell; 2017. p. 111-134.
Milne A, Culverwell A, Guss R, Tuppen J, Whelton R. Screening for dementia in primary care: a review of the use, efficacy and quality of measures. Int Psychogeriatr. 2008;20(5):911-926.
Newbury J, Marley J. 75+ health assessments. Aust Fam Physician. 2001;30(1):82-87.

Auteurs

Angela Crombie (A)

School of Rural Health, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
Research and Innovation, Bendigo Health, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia.

Shivanjali Lingam (S)

Department of Rural Health, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Shepparton, Victoria, Australia.

Amy Pascoe (A)

Department of Rural Health, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Shepparton, Victoria, Australia.

Peter Disler (P)

School of Rural Health, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
Department of Rural Health, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Shepparton, Victoria, Australia.
St Anthony Memory Service (SAMS), Strathfieldsaye, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia.

Adel Asaid (A)

St Anthony Memory Service (SAMS), Strathfieldsaye, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia.

Rebecca Disler (R)

Department of Rural Health, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Shepparton, Victoria, Australia.

Classifications MeSH