TY - JOUR
T1 - Development of the dementia community attitudes questionnaire
AU - Read, Sheridan T.
AU - Wynaden, Dianne
AU - Albrecht, Matthew A.
AU - Toye, Christine
N1 - Funding Information:
We extend our thanks to members of the Expert Reference Group who kindly provided their time to review and assist in the development of the questionnaire. Associate Professor Anne Whitworth, Curtin University; Dr Claire Eccleston, University of Tasmania; Professor Lily Xiao, Flinders University; Dr Pam Nichols, Curtin University and Professor Yun-Hee Jeon, The University of Sydney. Similarly, our thanks also extend to those people within the West Australian community who kindly provided their time to assist in the piloting of the questionnaire and Diana Blackwood, faculty librarian for the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine at Curtin University for her assistance throughout the study. The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2020.
PY - 2021/8
Y1 - 2021/8
N2 - Background: What it means to live with dementia is changing. Autonomy, independence and continued community involvement are now recognised goals. As a result, new initiatives are required to support people with dementia to sustain their quality of life, update community understanding and reflect resultant change in community attitudes. Measuring the impact of such initiatives can help determine the extent of their success, inform needs for further intervention and, ultimately, shape policy. Objective: To discover – or, if this could not be achieved, develop – a questionnaire measuring community attitudes towards people with dementia reflecting these newly recognised goals in terms of both content and expression. Methods: A four-stage approach was used in this research: a scoping review of the literature, questionnaire development and expert review, questionnaire piloting, including with people living with dementia and their families, and preliminary psychometric testing. Results: The review failed to retrieve a suitable existing questionnaire. A ten-item questionnaire, the Dementia Community Attitudes Questionnaire was developed, content validity was established by expert review and piloting led to refinements. Exploratory factor analysis (N = 92) generated an interpretable three-factor solution. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for Factor 1, Engagement, was good (0.855); for Factor 2, Challenges, and Factor 3, Decision-Making, reliability was acceptable (0.785 and 0.709, respectively). Conclusion: Supporting people with dementia to sustain their quality of life requires new initiatives and suitable measures to evaluate their impact. The Dementia Community Attitudes Questionnaire was developed with input from people with dementia, their families, and relevant experts. Items reflect current opportunities for people with dementia to retain their independence, autonomy and community engagement for as long as possible. Following further psychometric testing, this new questionnaire may be useful to evaluate such initiatives.
AB - Background: What it means to live with dementia is changing. Autonomy, independence and continued community involvement are now recognised goals. As a result, new initiatives are required to support people with dementia to sustain their quality of life, update community understanding and reflect resultant change in community attitudes. Measuring the impact of such initiatives can help determine the extent of their success, inform needs for further intervention and, ultimately, shape policy. Objective: To discover – or, if this could not be achieved, develop – a questionnaire measuring community attitudes towards people with dementia reflecting these newly recognised goals in terms of both content and expression. Methods: A four-stage approach was used in this research: a scoping review of the literature, questionnaire development and expert review, questionnaire piloting, including with people living with dementia and their families, and preliminary psychometric testing. Results: The review failed to retrieve a suitable existing questionnaire. A ten-item questionnaire, the Dementia Community Attitudes Questionnaire was developed, content validity was established by expert review and piloting led to refinements. Exploratory factor analysis (N = 92) generated an interpretable three-factor solution. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for Factor 1, Engagement, was good (0.855); for Factor 2, Challenges, and Factor 3, Decision-Making, reliability was acceptable (0.785 and 0.709, respectively). Conclusion: Supporting people with dementia to sustain their quality of life requires new initiatives and suitable measures to evaluate their impact. The Dementia Community Attitudes Questionnaire was developed with input from people with dementia, their families, and relevant experts. Items reflect current opportunities for people with dementia to retain their independence, autonomy and community engagement for as long as possible. Following further psychometric testing, this new questionnaire may be useful to evaluate such initiatives.
KW - attitudes
KW - community
KW - dementia
KW - quality of life
KW - questionnaire
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85097512980&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1471301220977649
DO - 10.1177/1471301220977649
M3 - Article
C2 - 33307762
AN - SCOPUS:85097512980
SN - 1471-3012
VL - 20
SP - 1940
EP - 1957
JO - Dementia
JF - Dementia
IS - 6
ER -