Exploring Direct Care Workers' Experiences with Dementia Patients

This study aimed to elicit and understand the experience of direct care workers involved with dementia patients. Conventional content analysis was used in this study. Fifteen direct care workers, associated with either nursing homes or elderly daycare centers in Korea, were recruited. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted to collect data. All interviews were recorded using digital devices, transcribed, and qualitatively analyzed. Four key areas were identified: (1) confusion due to ignorance and inexperience; (2) difficulties due to personal, familial, and environmental obstacles; (3) accustomed care skills learned from one's own experience; and (4) unintentional discrimination. The results suggest that even though direct care workers are educated on dementia, their knowledge and caring skills are not adequate to manage diverse dementia symptoms. Therefore, it is necessary and important to develop scientific and systematic dementia education programs and care skills to improve the quality of care.