Dementia risk reduction in practice: the knowledge, opinions and perspectives of Australian healthcare providers
Lidan Zheng A B K L , Kali Godbee C , Genevieve Z. Steiner
D , Gail Daylight B , Carolyn Ee D , Thi Yen Hill B E , Mark I. Hohenberg F , Nicola T. Lautenschlager G H , Keith McDonald I , Dimity Pond J , Kylie Radford A B K , Kaarin J. Anstey A B K and Ruth Peters A B K
A UNSW Psychology, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
B Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, NSW, Australia.
C Department of General Practice, Melbourne Medical School, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Vic., Australia.
D NICM Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW, Australia.
E Department of Aged Care, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, NSW, Australia.
F School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
G Academic Unit for Psychiatry of Old Age, Department of Psychiatry, Melbourne Medical School, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Vic., Australia.
H NorthWestern Mental Health, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Vic., Australia.
I South Western Sydney PHN (SWSPHN), Sydney, NSW, Australia.
J School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia.
K UNSW Ageing Futures Institute, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
L Corresponding author. Email: l.zheng@neura.edu.au
Australian Journal of Primary Health 27(2) 136-142 https://doi.org/10.1071/PY20189
Submitted: 13 August 2020 Accepted: 17 November 2020 Published: 11 February 2021
Abstract
This study examined Australian primary healthcare providers’ knowledge about dementia risk factors and risk reduction and their perspectives on barriers and enablers to risk reduction in practice. Primary healthcare providers were recruited through Primary Health Networks across Australia (n = 51). Participants completed an online survey that consisted of fixed-responses and free-text components to assess their knowledge, attitudes and current practices relating to dementia risk factors and risk reduction techniques. The results showed that Australian primary healthcare providers have good knowledge about the modifiable risk factors for dementia; however, face several barriers to working with patients to reduce dementia risk. Commonly reported barriers included low patient motivation and healthcare system level limitations. The most commonly reported recommendations to helping primary healthcare providers to work with patients to reduce dementia risk included increasing resources and improving dementia awareness and messaging. While the results need to be interpreted in the context of the limitations of this study, we conclude that collaborative efforts between researchers, clinicians, policy makers and the media are needed to support the uptake of risk reduction activities in primary care settings.
Keywords: dementia, knowledge translation, preventive health, primary healthcare, risk reduction.
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