Views of healthcare professionals on their relationships with families of people living with dementia: A qualitative study

Abstract

Objective Healthcare professionals as well as families play a vital role in ensuring the quality of care for people living with dementia. However, the relationships between healthcare professionals and families of people living with dementia are not extensively examined, particularly within the Chinese cultural context of dementia. The goal of this study was to explore the views of healthcare professionals on their relationships with families of people living with dementia. Design This qualitative study was grounded in the interpretative phenomenological analysis framework. Methods Data were collected using focus-group interviews. Qualitative data were transcribed verbatim and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Results The study recruited a total of 26 healthcare professionals from 3 long-term care facilities. The study found that conflicts were inherent in the relationships between professionals and families of people living with dementia, and conflicts were found to manifest in three core domains: 1) Families demonstrated a lack of understanding about dementia, 2) Professionals faced challenges in managing families’ unrealistic expectations regarding the disease status and the prognosis of people living with dementia, 3) Families did not perceive themselves as being responsible for the care of people living with dementia. Conclusions The present study found that the prevailing factor underpinning the relational conflicts between healthcare professionals and families of people living with dementia, as reported by healthcare professionals was the perceived lack of understanding about dementia amongst families of those affected.