Dementia risk reduction in practice: the knowledge, opinions and perspectives of Australian healthcare providers

This study examined Australian primary healthcare providers’ knowledge about dementia risk factors and risk reduction and their perspectives on barriers and enablers to risk reduction in practice. Primary healthcare providers were recruited through Primary Health Networks across Australia (n = 51)....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Australian journal of primary health 2021-02, Vol.27 (2), p.136-142
Main Authors: Zheng, Lidan, Godbee, Kali, Steiner, Genevieve Z., Daylight, Gail, Ee, Carolyn, Hill, Thi Yen, Hohenberg, Mark I., Lautenschlager, Nicola T., McDonald, Keith, Pond, Dimity, Radford, Kylie, Anstey, Kaarin J., Peters, Ruth
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Barriers
Chronic illnesses
Dementia
Diabetes
Health care
Health care industry
Knowledge
Lifestyles
Motivation
Nurses
Patients
Policy making
Practice nursing
Prevention
Primary care
Professional attitudes
Risk factors
Risk reduction
Uptake
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Summary:This study examined Australian primary healthcare providers’ knowledge about dementia risk factors and risk reduction and their perspectives on barriers and enablers to risk reduction in practice. Primary healthcare providers were recruited through Primary Health Networks across Australia (n = 51). Participants completed an online survey that consisted of fixed-responses and free-text components to assess their knowledge, attitudes and current practices relating to dementia risk factors and risk reduction techniques. The results showed that Australian primary healthcare providers have good knowledge about the modifiable risk factors for dementia; however, face several barriers to working with patients to reduce dementia risk. Commonly reported barriers included low patient motivation and healthcare system level limitations. The most commonly reported recommendations to helping primary healthcare providers to work with patients to reduce dementia risk included increasing resources and improving dementia awareness and messaging. While the results need to be interpreted in the context of the limitations of this study, we conclude that collaborative efforts between researchers, clinicians, policy makers and the media are needed to support the uptake of risk reduction activities in primary care settings.
ISSN:1448-7527
1836-7399
DOI:10.1071/PY20189