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P3‐335: A Survey of Social Work Students’ Attitudes Towards Working With People with Dementia
Author(s) -
Kelly Lisa,
Vreugdenhil Anthea
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
alzheimer's and dementia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.713
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1552-5279
pISSN - 1552-5260
DOI - 10.1016/j.jalz.2016.06.2000
Subject(s) - dementia , personhood , scale (ratio) , psychology , bachelor , psychological intervention , gerontology , social work , population , medicine , psychiatry , disease , pathology , philosophy , physics , archaeology , epistemology , quantum mechanics , environmental health , economics , history , economic growth
ions, values and beliefs. Health care providers in all settings, but most notably in care environments where there may be privacy, consent and capacity concerns, face these challenges with very little support, few resources and much misinformation. Methods:The Alzheimer Society of Canada partnered with subject matter experts in both law and dementia care to develop a workshop to help health care providers address issues of intimacy in their dementia care practice. Two types of resources formed the basis of this workshop: 1) Plain language legal resources for health care providers to apply consent and capacity laws appropriately into practice. 2) “Responsive behaviour framework” to assist health care providers in understanding what triggers, including a desire for intimate contact, might be influencing an individual’s behaviour and to offer a systematic approach to intervention. Results:A collaboration of legal, practice and dementia subject matter experts has led to the development of resources to help health care providers to a) reflect on their values, attitudes and beliefs in considering the rights of adults living with dementia to express their sexuality and need for intimacy, b) understand how personal beliefs may influence practice, c) learn person centred strategies to enhance the quality of life of persons with dementia in their care. Conclusion: This session will solicit practice scenarios from participants in order to apply person-centred strategies and resources to increase staff skill and sensitivity when approaching challenging situations involving persons with dementia and the expression of their sexuality and need for intimacy.