Centre for Online Health, 1974The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
Centre for Health Services Research, 1974The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
J Telemed Telecare. 2022 Dec;28(10):757-763. doi: 10.1177/1357633X221119610.
High rates of dementia among Australian First Nations' peoples have resulted in an increased demand for dementia knowledge and skills among the primary health care professionals in these communities. The Dementia Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) program aims to be a culturally safe way of increasing local health workforce capacity by facilitating dementia knowledge, skills and confidence among primary care professionals in First Nations community settings. Dementia ECHO is based on the international evidence-based telementoring programme, Project Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes. Every Dementia ECHO session is delivered by videoconference and comprises a specialist-led presentation and a case discussion from a primary care health service participant. The aims of this study were to assess the uptake and reach of Dementia ECHO; examine the perceived importance of dementia care and dementia education among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Controlled Health Service staff; and evaluate the potential impact of Dementia ECHO on health service staff pertaining to dementia knowledge, confidence to provide dementia care and professional isolation.
Dementia ECHO service activity data maintained by the programme providers was reviewed to determine uptake and reach. A pre-implementation survey examined Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Controlled Health Service staff perspectives on the importance of dementia education and the priority of a range of health issues. After each Dementia ECHO session, a brief online survey gathered quantitative and qualitative data regarding the potential impact of the session.
Of 30 completed pre-implementation surveys, all staff rated dementia education as either very important or important. Salient themes highlighting why it is important are presented. When asked to rank six different health priorities, dementia ( = 10) and chronic disease ( = 10) were placed as the top priority. The brief post-session feedback provided 44 complete survey responses demonstrating: perceived improvement in dementia knowledge and skills (88.4%); increased confidence to provide dementia care (83%); and a reduction in professional isolation (88%).
Dementia ECHO addresses a gap in dementia education that is much needed in health professionals with increasing numbers of First Nations people living with dementia. This current study shows that attending an evidence-based telementoring programme, such as Dementia ECHO, can increase dementia knowledge and confidence to care for someone living with dementia and their families.
澳大利亚原住民的痴呆症发病率较高，这导致这些社区的初级保健专业人员对痴呆症知识和技能的需求增加。Dementia Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) 计划旨在通过在原住民社区环境中为初级保健专业人员提供痴呆症知识、技能和信心，成为一种文化安全的方式来增加当地卫生劳动力的能力。Dementia ECHO 是基于国际循证远程医疗指导计划 Project Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes。每次 Dementia ECHO 会议都通过视频会议进行，包括专家主导的演示和初级保健服务参与者的案例讨论。本研究的目的是评估 Dementia ECHO 的参与度和覆盖范围；检查土著和托雷斯海峡岛民社区控制的医疗服务人员对痴呆症护理和痴呆症教育的重要性的看法；并评估 Dementia ECHO 对与痴呆症知识、提供痴呆症护理的信心和专业孤立相关的卫生服务人员的潜在影响。
审查计划提供者维护的 Dementia ECHO 服务活动数据，以确定参与度和覆盖范围。实施前调查研究了土著和托雷斯海峡岛民社区控制的医疗服务人员对痴呆症教育的重要性以及一系列健康问题的优先级的看法。在每次 Dementia ECHO 会议之后，进行了一项简短的在线调查，收集关于会议潜在影响的定量和定性数据。
在 30 份完成的实施前调查中，所有工作人员都将痴呆症教育评为非常重要或重要。提出了突出说明为什么它很重要的相关主题。当被要求对六个不同的健康重点进行排名时，痴呆症（=10）和慢性病（=10）被列为最高优先级。简短的会后反馈提供了 44 份完整的调查回复，表明：痴呆症知识和技能的认知有所提高（88.4%）；提供痴呆症护理的信心增加（83%）；以及专业孤立感的减少（88%）。
Dementia ECHO 解决了在痴呆症教育方面的差距，这是初级保健专业人员非常需要的，因为越来越多的原住民患有痴呆症。本研究表明，参加基于证据的远程医疗指导计划，如 Dementia ECHO，可以提高痴呆症知识和信心，为照顾患有痴呆症的人和他们的家人提供护理。
