title: Professional care providers in dementia care in eight European countries; their training and involvement in early dementia stage and in home care.
abstract: Knowledge concerning professionals involved in dementia care throughout its trajectory is sparse; the focus has mainly been on nursing-home care and less on home care, diagnosis and treatment of the disease and its complications despite the fact that home care is the most prominent type of care. The aim of this study was to explore and describe professional care providers involved in dementia care and their educational level applying the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) and further to investigate practice in the RightTimePlaceCare-countries with regard to screening, diagnostic procedures and treatment of dementia and home care. The findings demonstrate more similarities than differences in terms of type of professionals involved among the countries although untrained staff were more common in some countries. Findings also show that many types of professionals are involved, who to turn to may not be clear, for instance in terms of medical specialities and it may be unclear who bears the ultimate responsibility. The professionals involved in diagnosis, treatment and care are educated to bachelor's level or above whilst everyday care is provided by people trained at a lower ISCED level or with no formal training. Registered nurses as well as occupational therapists have bachelor's degrees in most countries, but not in Germany or Estonia. Professionals specifically trained in dementia care are not so common. Further research is needed to reveal not only who provides the diagnostics and treatment, but also how home care is organised and quality assured. Many different types of professionals serve as providers along the trajectory of the disease which may be difficult for the patient and the informal caregiver to cope with.
authors.affiliation: The Pufendorf Institute, Lund University, Lund, Sweden Ingalill.rahm_hallberg@rektor.lu.se.
authors.forename: Ingalill Rahm
authors.initials: IR
authors.lastname: Hallberg
authors.affiliation: Tecnocampus, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Ester
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cabrera
authors.affiliation: University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jolley
authors.affiliation: University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.
authors.forename: Katrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Raamat
authors.affiliation: University of Witten/Herdecke, Witten/Herdecke, Germany.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Renom-Guiteras
authors.affiliation: Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Hilde
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Verbeek
authors.affiliation: University of Toulouse, Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Soto
authors.affiliation: University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
authors.forename: Minna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stolt
authors.affiliation: Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Staffan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Karlsson
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000592:standards; D003704:Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D005060:Europe; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000193:education*; D006699:Home Care Services / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000592:standards
keywords: International Standard Classification of Education standardisation; dementia; diagnosis and treatment; education; home care; professional care providers; screening