The impact of psychosocial training on staff attitudes towards people living with dementia: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: As the prevalence of dementia increases, the need for appropriately trained and skilled care teams also increases. Staff attitudes towards people living with dementia have a significant impact on caregiving behaviours and staff and resident outcomes. Training within care settings is a potential way of improving staff attitudes towards residents in their care. OBJECTIVES: This review aimed to (i) assess the effectiveness of psychosocial training in improving care staff attitudes towards dementia; and (ii) examine the content and focus of training. METHOD: The review was conducted following PRISMA guidance and the protocol was registered on PROSPERO prior to conducting the review. A comprehensive search of peer-reviewed literature was undertaken using CINAHL, Medline and PsycINFO from inception to March 2021. All papers were evaluated using a quality appraisal tool. RESULTS: Ten studies met inclusion criteria and were of variable quality. However, six studies found significant improvements in staff attitudes towards dementia following staff training. The studies varied in terms of training focus and included behavioural, communication and cognitive-based approaches. CONCLUSIONS: Staff training could be an effective method of improving staff attitudes towards dementia in care settings. Further research adopting high-quality randomised controlled designs to further explore staff attitudes following psychosocial training would make a valuable contribution to the literature base.

Efficacy and challenges of a culturally relevant intervention to improve attitudes to aging.

OBJECTIVES: Attitudes to aging have been linked with important health outcomes. It is unclear whether interventions to improve attitudes to aging are effective across cultural contexts. This study investigated the efficacy of an intervention among women of either Australian or Chinese backgrounds. METHODS: Among 96 women who provided baseline measures, 86 attended a single, 90-min group session on either healthy aging or healthy diet. Measures of three domains of attitudes to aging were collected at baseline, then immediately and 8 weeks after the intervention. RESULTS: The intervention improved attitudes in the psychological growth domain, but not the physical change or psychosocial loss domains. Cultural identification did not moderate intervention efficacy. DISCUSSION: The findings suggest that brief, culturally inclusive interventions may be partially effective at improving attitudes to aging. Furthermore, research is needed to investigate if the intervention would be more effective when baseline attitudes to aging are less positive.

Older Adults' Perspectives on Using Digital Technology to Maintain Good Mental Health: Interactive Group Study.

BACKGROUND: A growing number of apps to support good mental health and well-being are available on digital platforms. However, very few studies have examined older adults' attitudes toward the use of these apps, despite increasing uptake of digital technologies by this demographic. OBJECTIVE: This study sought to explore older adults' perspectives on technology to support good mental health. METHODS: A total of 15 older adults aged 50 years or older, in two groups, participated in sessions to explore the use of digital technologies to support mental health. Interactive activities were designed to capture participants' immediate reactions to apps and websites designed to support mental health and to explore their experiences of using technology for these purposes in their own lives. Template analysis was used to analyze transcripts of the group discussions. RESULTS: Older adults were motivated to turn to technology to improve mood through mechanisms of distraction, normalization, and facilitated expression of mental states, while aiming to reduce burden on others. Perceived barriers to use included fear of consequences and the impact of low mood on readiness to engage with technology, as well as a lack of prior knowledge applicable to digital technologies. Participants were aware of websites available to support mental health, but awareness alone did not motivate use. CONCLUSIONS: Older adults are motivated to use digital technologies to improve their mental health, but barriers remain that developers need to address for this population to access them.

Which computer-use behaviours are most indicative of cognitive decline? Insights from an expert reference group.

Computer use is becoming ubiquitous among older adults. As computer use depends on complex cognitive functions, measuring individuals' computer-use behaviours over time may provide a way to detect changes in their cognitive functioning. However, it is uncertain which computer-use behaviour changes are most likely to be associated with declines of particular cognitive functions. To address this, we convened six experts from clinical and cognitive neurosciences to take part in two workshops and a follow-up survey to gain consensus on which computer-use behaviours would likely be the strongest indicators of cognitive decline. This resulted in a list of 21 computer-use behaviours that the majority of experts agreed would offer a 'strong indication' of decline in a specific cognitive function, across Memory, Executive function, Language and Perception and Action domains. This list enables a hypothesis-driven approach to analysing computer-use behaviours predicted to be markers of cognitive decline.