title: Care staff attitudes and experiences of working with older people with dementia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine care staff attitudes to dementia, assess levels of job satisfaction and explore how these attitudes and experience may relate to each other.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-nine staff from four long-term care facilities were surveyed using the Approaches to Dementia Questionnaire and the Staff Experience of Working with Demented Residents Questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Attitudes were positive, focusing most on 'person-centred' care (4.35) as opposed to 'hopefulness' (3.66). Job satisfaction was also good, being highest in terms of 'resident contact' (2.92) but lowest for work 'environment' (2.12). Care staff attitudes to dementia were positively correlated with job satisfaction (r= 0.366, n= 48, P= 0.011), particularly for attitudes focused on 'person-centred' care (r= 0.393, n= 48, P= 0.006).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings suggest an important relationship between care staff attitudes and levels of job satisfaction. More work is needed to specify this relationship.
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Clinical and Community Practice Innovation, Griffith Health Institute, Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland, Australia. w.moyle@griffith.edu.au
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Moyle
authors.forename: Jenny E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Murfield
authors.forename: Susan G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Griffiths
authors.forename: Lorraine
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Venturato
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000488:Allied Health Personnel / Q000523:psychology; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D003704:Dementia / Q000451:nursing*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009735:Nursing Homes; D011793:Queensland; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires