The Kids4Dementia education program is effective in improving children’s attitudes towards dementia

Abstract

Improving children’s understanding of people with dementia is essential for tackling societal stigma around dementia. Kids4Dementia is a teacher-led multimedia dementia education resource for 9–12 year olds (approximately 150 minutes duration). A non-randomised, waitlist-controlled, mixed-methods design examined whether Kids4Dementia was (1) efficacious in improving students” attitudes towards people with dementia and (2) engaging and acceptable for teachers and students. Students who completed Kids4Dementia (n = 136) showed improved scores on the Kids Insight into Dementia Survey, relative to the control school (n = 67), especially students who had not heard of dementia before (Time × Group × Dementia Familiarity interaction, F(1, 191) = 5.28, p = .023, partial η2 = .027). Qualitative reports indicated that the program was acceptable and engaging for teachers and students and corroborated improvement in student empathy and behavioural intentions towards people with dementia. The findings provide preliminary evidence for the efficacy of Kids4Dementia as an engaging, stakeholder-directed, curriculum-aligned dementia education program.

Perceptions and attitudes towards dementia among university students in Malaysia

“…The level of contact that participants had experienced with people with dementia previously varied, in line with existing research. In Australia, 31% of adolescents stated that they had never seen a person with dementia other than in passing, and 24% stated that they knew either a friend or family member with dementia [26]. Additionally, 23% of adolescents in England reported knowing someone with dementia [27].…”

“…More recently, 37% of participants stated that they had spent time with a family member with dementia [28]. Perhaps more interestingly, many more participants have seen a TV programme, film, news story, or advert about dementia than know someone in dementia in both England (80%, [28]) and Australia (37% [26];). This may highlight the growth in presence of dementia in the media, or may represent differences between the countries.…”

The Kids Insight into Dementia Survey (KIDS): development and preliminary psychometric properties

“…Our research addresses this absence of a child measure that is sensitive to dementia attitude changes. As part of larger program developing a dementia education product for schools (Baker et al, 2016), the study aimed to develop and validate a new self-report tool to measure children's tripartite attitudes towards people with dementia. Beyond the needs of our research program, we argue that such a tool would be useful in advancing research into how children think and feel about people with dementia.…”

Successful Elements of Intergenerational Dementia Programs: A Scoping Review

“…Beneficial effects for PWD can include increased activity engagement and social inclusion, and decreased depression and anxiety. Examples of positive outcomes for the younger generations can include more positive attitudes toward PWD, improved social skills, and increased self-confidence (Baker et al, 2018;Blais et al, 2017;Cohen-Mansfield & Jensen, 2017).…”

“…Research suggests intergenerational dementia programs can have positive outcomes for participants such as increased creativity, expression of feelings, social interactions, and self-esteem (Harris & Caporella, 2014, 2018Lokon, Kinney, & Kunkel, 2012;Lokon, Li, & Parajuli, 2017). In addition to these common recreationally based programs, there are also other types of programs such as educational programs that teach young people about dementia (Baker et al, 2018), or mentoring programs in which the older adults support the younger participants in performing activities (Galbraith et al, 2015). Dementia education can provide the younger participants with increased insight into what dementia is, what it is like to have dementia, and how to interact with PWD (Baker, Webster, Lynn, Rogers, & Belcher, 2017;Chung, 2009;Di Bona, Kennedy, & Mountain, 2017;Harris & Caporella, 2014, 2018Lokon et al, 2017).…”