A Study on the DEMENTIA Awareness and the Dementia Needs in a District

Purpose: Since the level of positive perception of dementia in Korean society is still very insufficient, it is diffi-cult to detect diseases early and actively intervene in treatments. Supporting this situation, many studies have shown that there is a lack of basic knowledge and a lack of proper perception of dementia. This study is to inves-tigate basic data for presenting the direction of establishing and developing the dementia policy in the future by seeking the effective operational plan for a dementia care center through surveying the dementia awareness and needs in a region. Method: This study is a cross sectional study. This study targeted 498 people who are dwelling in G city of Gyeonggi Province. The research period is from May 1, 2018 to September 15, 2018. The data were analyzed by SPSS Win. 21.0 program. Results: The dementia perception questions showed a significant difference according to participants’ age, education level, interest degree, dementia knowledge level, and information contact appearance. As a result of surveying the demand for the dementia-related policy that is most necessary for research participants, a support for medical expenses had the highest need. Conclusion: A large-scale research has rarely been done at home so far targeting city citizens in a region excluding Seoul Metropolis. Hence, this study will be able to be applied to useful basic data afterward for the establishment of a domestic dementia policy and for a dementia-related research. Especially, a change in the perception on dementia and in the use of a care service will become a very important source data.