Centre for Dementia Studies, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Trafford Centre, Univeristy of Sussex, Falmer, East Sussex, BN1 9RY, UK.
BMC Med Educ. 2019 Jan 25;19(1):35. doi: 10.1186/s12909-019-1460-y.
Compassion is an essential component of good quality care. Compassion towards people with dementia in health systems is often suboptimal, which can have negative impacts on clinical outcomes and patient experience. Attitudes are formed early in training and the literature on healthcare student compassion towards those with dementia is limited. This study aimed to understand how undergraduate medical and nursing students understand compassion towards people with dementia and factors influencing the delivery of compassionate care.
Nine individual in-depth interviews and two focus groups were undertaken with 23 medical and nursing students. A topic guide was developed, and transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis.
The analysis identified three themes which students used to define compassion: (i) connection, (ii) care, and (iii) respect. Three factors were identified as being either facilitators or barriers to delivering compassionate care to people with dementia: (i) patient factors, (ii) student factors, and (iii) connection. Patient factors related to the presence of behaviours which might be challenging to manage. Student factors included student exposure to dementia, as well as student knowledge and skills. Connection focussed on whether there was an awareness and understanding of the person behind the diagnosis.
Undergraduate healthcare students are the future workforce for patients with dementia, and understanding how compassion develops within them is important. We found medical and nursing students had a broad understanding of compassion, and identified factors influence their compassion towards people with dementia. These novel data can be used to shape healthcare education programmes aimed at improving dementia care.
同情心是优质护理的重要组成部分。医疗体系中对痴呆症患者的同情心往往不够，这可能对临床结果和患者体验产生负面影响。态度在培训早期形成，有关医疗保健专业学生对痴呆症患者同情心的文献有限。本研究旨在了解本科医学生和护生如何理解对痴呆症患者的同情心，以及影响提供同情护理的因素。
对 23 名医学生和护生进行了 9 次个人深入访谈和 2 次焦点小组讨论。制定了一个主题指南，并使用主题分析对转录本进行了分析。
分析确定了学生用来定义同情心的三个主题：（i）联系，（ii）关怀，和（iii）尊重。确定了三个因素，它们是提供对痴呆症患者的同情护理的促进因素或障碍：（i）患者因素，（ii）学生因素，和（iii）联系。患者因素与可能难以管理的行为的存在有关。学生因素包括学生对痴呆症的接触，以及学生的知识和技能。联系侧重于是否对诊断背后的人有认识和理解。
本科医疗保健专业学生是痴呆症患者的未来劳动力，了解他们的同情心如何发展是很重要的。我们发现医学生和护生对同情心有广泛的理解，并确定了影响他们对痴呆症患者的同情心的因素。这些新数据可用于塑造旨在改善痴呆症护理的医疗保健教育计划。
