Cognitive and emotional attitudes towards dementia and persons withdementia in family carers and individuals with no experience in caring

Introduction

Perception of dementia and direct contact with individuals with dementia seem to be important factors modifying attitudes towards the patient group. The study aims were formulated to assess: (1) the difference between carers for a family member with dementia and those with no experience in caring for a chronically ill person in terms of their perceptions of dementia, competence and warmth ratings of persons with dementia and feelings about them, (2) the influence of dementia representation and experience of caring on warmth, competence ratings and feelings about persons with dementia. Material and methods: A total of 57 individuals participated in the study, including: 27 family carers (Cg) and 30 controls without caregiving experience (C). The Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R) and experimental tasks of our own design were used to assess attitudes to dementia itself and persons with dementia.