Police officer competence in handling Alzheimer’s cases: The roles of AD knowledge, beliefs, and exposure

Abstract

This study seeks to understand the level of police officer competence for providing assistance during interactions with patients of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and to reveal the roles their knowledge of AD, beliefs of AD, and previous exposure to patients with AD play in influencing these competence levels. Data were collected from police officers in two Phoenix metropolitan-area police departments through focus group discussions and survey. Four focus groups comprised of 27 police officers discussed their perceptions of AD and challenges of dealing with individuals with AD. Building on the findings from the focus groups, an online survey ( n = 228) examined police officer AD knowledge, as well as their experience and competence in the handling of AD cases. Police participants had fair knowledge of AD with an average 71.8% accuracy rate. More AD knowledge ( B = 0.29) and higher levels of education ( B = 0.85) were associated with higher levels of competence of recognizing AD-related behaviors. Low levels of discomfort interacting with AD patients ( B = -0.75) and having a family member of dementia ( B = 1.32) were related to higher levels of competence of reacting appropriately to an AD patient. The findings suggest that information about the best practices for dealing with community residents with AD needs to be made available to police officers. To ensure a dementia-friendly environment, aging service providers need to reach out to local law enforcement departments and provide training that promotes AD knowledge, decreases AD-related stigma, and increases competence of handing dementia cases in a way that fits the policing culture.

Public Knowledge about Dementia in China: A National WeChat-Based Survey

“…Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI) has recommended that every country should have a national plan to deal with this major public health crisis [6]. A previous study found that greater dementia knowledge by the general public was associated with higher levels of competence in recognizing dementia-related behaviors [7]. Lack of knowledge often leads to problematic delays between symptom onset and healthcare provision [8,9].…”

Strategies to Locate Lost Persons with Dementia: A Case Study of Ontario First Responders

“…It is not uncommon for the public and police to mistake a lost person with dementia as someone who is either homeless or simply out engaging in regular activities, not requiring assistance. While topics of this nature underlying education and awareness have been brought forward within the literature [24][25][26], few resources are available within the grey literature, where police and communities can seek information of this nature [15]. e inclusion of awareness campaigns and publicly available education resources could be used to describe how missing incidents occur among persons with dementia.…”

Dementia and the aging population: cognitive screening within correctional health

“…When present, dementia training was normally incorporated into existing training curriculum, such as critical incident training programs. Even with training, Sun et al (2019) highlighted that some officers feel as though material learned within training is not transferable to daily encounters.…”

“…The pathology and symptomology of dementia plays a critical role when assessing cognition in the lens of criminal responsibility (Liljegren et al , 2015). Individuals with Alzheimer’s are known to have the most police interaction from wandering whereas individuals with frontotemporal dementia often exhibit more BPSD, which may be interpreted as aggression or violence toward others (Liljegren et al , 2018; Sun et al , 2019). These behaviors were even observed within individuals without a history of justice involvement.…”