Illness perceptions of early stage dementia
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Illness perceptions and help-seeking intentions among people with early stage dementia and their caregivers
IRAS ID
243685
Contact name
Jane Gregg
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Lancaster University
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Although it is now recognised that an early diagnosis of dementia is crucial, once diagnosed many people do not seek help until a later stage when treatments are far less effective.
Previous studies exploring peoples perceptions of dementia and their own health beliefs in relation to help seeking behaviour have produced variable results (Werner 2003, Roberts & Connell 2000, Roberts et al 2003).Moreover the advantage of exploring illness beliefs as a method of predicting psychological and physical outcomes in chronic conditions has been firmly established (Simpson, Lekwuwa & Crawford 2013), however, there is limited knowledge about predictive outcomes among people with early stage dementia and their caregivers in relation to their help seeking intentions,consequently examination of this phenomenon is relatively rare.
To address this gap, this research proposes to examine whether an individual’s illness perceptions are associated with help seeking intentions among people with an early diagnosis of dementia and their caregivers by utilising the self-regulatory model (SRM) (Leventhal et al 1980, 1997).Examination of this association will incorporate a quantitative cross-sectional survey.84 dyads will be recruited from nine NHS community-based clinics for older adults based in Surrey.
By exploring the association of illness perceptions with help-seeking intentions among people living with early stage dementia, will help us to understand the cognitive processes that an individual can experience. It is hoped that by investigating this phenomenon may aid in a better understanding of how people respond to a diagnosis of dementia, and also their coping strategies when seeking help. Studying these concepts may help to provide a framework for community dementia services, by aiding to identify best practices in reaching out to people living with dementia who may feel unsupported and isolated.REC name
East of Scotland Research Ethics Service REC 2
REC reference
18/ES/0068
Date of REC Opinion
10 Jul 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion