Physical Therapy Publications
Physiotherapy Students’ Attitudes Toward Working With People With Dementia: A Cross-Sectional Survey
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2019
Journal
Physical & Occupational Therapy in Geriatrics
Volume
38
Issue
1
First Page
56
Last Page
66
URL with Digital Object Identifier
https://doi.org/10.1080/02703181.2019.1690088
Abstract
Aims: To understand personal, educational and clinical experiences and the attitudes of physiotherapy students towards people with dementia.
Methods: Online survey questionnaire. Physiotherapy students in the last year of a two-year Masters of Physical Therapy (MPT) entry-to-practice degree program (n = 59) were surveyed. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data.
Results: Fifty-five students participated (93%). The majority of students (n = 52/55, 77%) had at least one clinical placement working with people with dementia. Overall, 53% (n = 29/55) felt their academic training was sufficient to effectively work with people with dementia. Moreover, 82% (n = 45/55) reported their confidence was greatest working with people who could communicate well verbally.
Conclusions: Disease-based knowledge was strong, yet just over half felt their academic training was sufficient to effectively work with people with dementia. The findings support the need for more training, particularly in communication strategies, to support students to effectively work with client with dementia upon graduation.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Notes
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Physical & Occupational Therapy in Geriatrics on 15 November 2019, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/02703181.2019.1690088.