Professional care providers in dementia care in eight European countries; their training and involvement in early dementia stage and in home care

• Knowledge concerning professionals involved in dementia care throughout its trajectory is sparse; the focus has mainly been on nursing-homecare and less on home care, diagnosis and treatment of the disease and its complications despite the fact that home care is the most prominent type of care. The aim of this study was to explore and describe professional care providers involved in dementia care and their educational level applying the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) and further to investigate practice in the RightTimePlaceCare-countrieswith regard to screening, diagnostic procedures and treatment of dementia and home care. The findings demonstrate more similarities than differences in terms of type of professionals involved among the countries although untrained staff were more common in some countries. Findings also show that many types of professionals are involved, who to turn to may not be clear, for instance in terms of medical specialities and it may be unclear who bears the ultimate responsibility. The professionals involved in diagnosis, treatment and care are educated to bachelor's level or above whilst everyday care is provided by people trained at a lower ISCED level or with no formal training. Registered nurses as well as occupational therapists have bachelor's degrees in most countries, but not in Germany or Estonia. Professionals specifically trained in dementia care are not so common. Further research is needed to reveal not only who provides the diagnostics and treatment, but also how home care is organised and quality assured. Many different types of professionals serve as providers along the trajectory of the disease which may be difficult for the patient and the informal caregiver to cope with. © The Author(s) 2014

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Omvårdnad (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Nursing (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Folkhälsovetenskap, global hälsa, socialmedicin och epidemiologi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

professional care providers

dementia

home care

diagnosis and treatment

education

screening

International Standard Classification of Education standardisation

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)