Dementia-specific training for nursing home staff

For people with dementia high-quality care is vital, since at present dementia cannot be cured. In nursing homes this care is provided by the staff, who therefore require dementia-specific training enabling them to improve the quality of life for people with dementia.

This article compares existing dementia-specific training for nursing home staff with recommendations, based on the current state of research, by the Alzheimer’s Association and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, and discusses the outcome of this training.

A systematic review of the literature was conducted to identify studies addressing dementia-specific training. The electronic databases Embase, Medline, Cochrane, CINAHL, PsychINFO, PSYNDEX, and ScienceDirect were searched.

The training topics most commonly considered were person-centered care, communicating with people affected by dementia, and information about dementia. The roles of different social and healthcare professionals, palliative care of people with dementia, and understanding family dynamics are least featured in the training. There are training concepts which focus not only on the transfer of knowledge but also on practical exercises.

In general, the recommended topics were addressed in dementia-specific training concepts, but there is potential for optimization. Further research is needed to identify success criteria in dementia-specific training and identify the successful combination of theoretical knowledge and practical exercise.