Department of Psychology, University of KwaZulu Natal College of Humanities, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.
Department of Behavioral Medicine, University of KwaZulu Natal College of Health Sciences, Durban, South Africa.
Dementia (London). 2023 Jul;22(5):964-977. doi: 10.1177/14713012231165112. Epub 2023 Mar 22.
People with dementia often experience stigma, abuse and social exclusion in their communities. Thus, developing dementia-friendly communities is a priority in the fight against dementia.
This study investigated communities' attitudes towards people with dementia by exploring the colloquial terms referring to dementia and the social tolerance toward people with dementia.
A cross-sectional household study, using individual interviews, was conducted in the iLembe district, South Africa, with 300 participants aged ≥18 years. Data was collected between 2018 and 2019. Data was analysed using descriptive and reflexive thematic analyses.
Two themes related to local dementia terms were identified: (i) There are no known local terms synonymous with the term dementia; (ii) Communities use inaccurate and stigmatizing terms to describe dementia. The terms identified did not accurately describe dementia, and others had negative connotations toward people with dementia. Although most participants reported being tolerant, neighbourly, and friendly towards people with dementia, their tolerance decreased when personal interaction was required with a person with dementia. Most participants reported a more agreeable attitude when considering being neighbours rather than family members of people with dementia, and 50.3% reported that their communities discriminate against older people with dementia.
The identified dementia terms did not promote dementia-friendly societies. Appropriate dementia terms are crucial for changing social intolerance and negative perceptions of people with dementia and promoting a dementia-friendly culture in South African communities. Terms that encourage and perpetuate stigma against people with dementia must be replaced with terms that promote inclusion and tolerance.
痴呆症患者在社区中常常受到歧视、虐待和社会排斥。因此，发展对痴呆症友好的社区是防治痴呆症的当务之急。
本研究通过探讨指代痴呆症的俗语和对痴呆症患者的社会包容程度，调查社区对痴呆症患者的态度。
本研究采用横断面家庭调查，于 2018 年至 2019 年期间在南非 iLembe 区对 300 名年龄≥18 岁的参与者进行了个体访谈。使用描述性和反思性主题分析对数据进行分析。
确定了与当地痴呆症术语相关的两个主题：(i) 没有与痴呆症一词同义的当地术语；(ii) 社区使用不准确且带有污名化的术语来描述痴呆症。确定的术语不能准确描述痴呆症，其他术语对痴呆症患者带有负面含义。尽管大多数参与者报告对痴呆症患者表现出宽容、睦邻友好的态度，但当需要与痴呆症患者进行个人互动时，他们的宽容度会降低。大多数参与者报告说，与痴呆症患者的家庭成员相比，他们更愿意与痴呆症患者成为邻居，有 50.3%的参与者报告说他们的社区歧视老年痴呆症患者。
所确定的痴呆症术语并没有促进对痴呆症友好的社会。适当的痴呆症术语对于改变社会对痴呆症患者的不容忍和负面看法，以及在南非社区中促进对痴呆症友好的文化至关重要。必须用鼓励包容和容忍的术语来取代那些助长和延续对痴呆症患者的污名化的术语。
