title: A qualitative study of patients' experiences of a nurse-led memory clinic.
abstract: Little is known about patients' decision-making to attend a nurse-led memory clinic (NLMC) or of their experiences in the months following attendance. This paper reports qualitative follow-up data from 13 participants who attended a NLMC run by a Nurse Practitioner, and who were interviewed later in their own homes. Participants attended the NLMC seeking 'benchmarking' against the broader population or confirmation of diagnosis, with the Nurse Practitioner perceived as having more time to talk. Although we anticipated that participants would have changed some behaviours to incorporate 'brain health material', we found that the focus was on maintaining current capacity and lifestyle with most participants delaying planning and decisions about future lifestyle changes until 'necessary'. Understanding why people contact a NLMC and how their participation influences future planning can help us better target health care messages with the aim of improving health literacy.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Tasmania, Australia Christine.Stirling@utas.edu.au.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stirling
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Tasmania, Australia.
authors.forename: Briony
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.affiliation: Wicking Dementia Research & Education Centre, University of Tasmania, Tasmania, Australia.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bentley
authors.affiliation: Older Persons Mental Health Service, Department of Health and Human Services, Australia.
authors.forename: Hazel
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bucher
authors.affiliation: Older Persons Mental Health Service, Department of Health and Human Services, Australia.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Morrissey
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities; D003704:Dementia / Q000451:nursing*; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D009722:Nurse Practitioners; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D036301:Qualitative Research
keywords: dementia; nurse practitioner; nurse-led memory clinic; patient experience; thematic analysis