Background: Carers of people with dementia often experience emotional strain and may lack adequate knowledge to support their caregiving roles. Dementia cafes offer informal education and peer support, yet little is known about their effectiveness within hospital setting.
Aims: To develop, implement and evaluate a dementia care intervention aimed at enhancing carer’s knowledge and understanding of dementia.
Objectives:
Methods:
A prospective, quantitative study with RE-AIM (Reach, Adoption, Effectiveness, Implementation and Maintenance) framework was used to approach the design and establishment of an hospital-based dementia café.
Carers were asked to complete dementia knowledge assessment tool (DKAT2) with demographic data collection form prior to the café and a 2-hour education program was done with repeated DKAT2 after along with the carer burden scale. Carer satisfaction was measured with structured questionnaire post-intervention.
Results:
A total of 24 carers participated. Mean DKAT2 scores significantly increased from pre- to post-intervention (p value: p < 0.0005 ). Quantitative feedback using Likert scales revealed high satisfaction with carers reporting improved support and understanding of dementia care.
Conclusion:
Hospital-based dementia cafes may effectively enhance carers knowledge with 85.7% reported being extremely satisfied with the service, supporting carers critical role in dementia care. These finding may support the integration of dementia cafes into hospital-based care support services.