SUPPORTING CAREGIVERS OF PERSONS WITH DEMENTIA IN THE COMMUNITY: UNDERSTANDING NEEDS AND PERCEPTION OF SERVICES

Abstract

The study seeks to better understand the needs of caregivers with dementia, their perception of formal services, as well as the level of public awareness about dementia. It is hoped that they will eventually be better supported by the community they dwell in. To address the literature gap on how the community is able to support caregivers better, a mixed method of evaluation was used for the study. 10 qualitative interviews were conducted to gain in-depth understanding of the caregivers' perspective of community support, specifically formal services and different types of social support. The findings revealed that emotional support was perceived as most important to caregivers as it allowed them to feel less isolated and more supported in the caregiving journey. The utilization of formal services was low and most caregivers would prefer taking care of the persons with dementia in the comfort of their homes. While formal services and in particularly, nursing homes were perceived as "last resort", home based services were increasingly acceptable to meet the needs of caregivers. To obtain further insights, quantitative survey was also carried out in the dementia friendly communities in Singapore-- Macpherson, Hong Kah North and Chong Pang to find out about the community's awareness of dementia in those areas. A total of 100 respondents were recruited to complete the quantitative surveys. The findings from the quantitative survey revealed that community awareness and understanding of dementia is lacking. Most of the participants obtained information about dementia through word of mouth, which may be misleading. The lack of awareness in the community could result in potential stress in caregivers. These findings provide important practice and policy implications to meet the needs of caregivers in the community. Social workers could thus play an increased role in supporting caregivers in the caregiving journey, facilitating caregivers support group, advocating for increased accessibility of services and address the stigma and discrimination towards such individuals. Policy makers could also place more efforts on enhancing services to support caregivers and step up on efforts towards improving the current DFC by ensuring that public awareness efforts are effective in targeting the population.