Abstract
AIM: This study is intended to generate insight into the knowledge possessed by formal caregivers in the Netherlands about care for people living with dementia. More specifically, it explores the association between the knowledge and characteristics of caregivers in nursing homes and home care. The formal caregivers included in this study served a variety of functions, primarily as nursing staff. DESIGN: A quantitative retrospective cohort study. METHODS: We analysed two datasets based on two Dementia Knowledge Monitors (DKMs): one for the nursing-home setting (DKM-NH; n = 5807) and one for the home-care setting (DKM-HC; n = 532). Total scores and subscale scores ranged from 0 to 100. Analyses were conducted at both the total level and the subscale level. RESULTS: On average, nursing-home caregivers scored 68.3 out of 100, as compared to 62.9 for home caregivers. Scores for nursing-home caregivers were associated with age, function, educational training, region and experience (working in a specialised dementia department, private experience and years of working in a nursing home). Scores for home caregivers were associated with function, age and the number of PwD for whom they had provided care. CONCLUSION: Knowledge of dementia care leaves room for improvement for formal caregivers in all functions, in both nursing-home and home-care settings. Professional function, experience with dementia and previous extra training have a significant impact on a caregiver's level of knowledge concerning dementia care. PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: Offering educational programmes to caregivers could increase dementia-care knowledge. Additionally, caregiver experience in caring for PwD could potentially be optimised through short internships, shadowing and staff retention. Future research should explore valid, effective and attractive educational programmes for the various functional groups, in addition to identifying strategies for accelerating the process of acquiring experience in care for people with dementia.