The Effects of Hispanic-Focused Dementia Education on Nursing Students’ Awareness, Knowledge, and Confidence

TL;DR

A study shows that teaching nursing students about dementia in Hispanic communities improves their awareness, knowledge, and confidence in providing care.

Contribution

The study introduces a new educational intervention focused on dementia in Hispanic populations and demonstrates its effectiveness in nursing education.

Findings

There was a significant increase in awareness of health conditions that increase dementia risk in communities of color.

Students showed increased confidence in educating Hispanic patients with dementia after the intervention.

The intervention led to a measurable increase in knowledge about dementia within the Hispanic population.

Abstract

Hispanic Americans are 1.5 times more likely to develop dementia than non-Hispanic White Americans, yet experience a greater delay in diagnosis. The cause for delay is multifactorial, including discrimination when seeking healthcare, predisposition to diseases that increase dementia risk, language and financial barriers, and lack of knowledge. Nurses can play a critical role in addressing these barriers, yet nursing curricula lack formal programs to prepare students for this topic.

To evaluate the effects of a Hispanic-focused dementia educational intervention on nursing students’ awareness, knowledge, and confidence in caring for this patient population.

A single-group, pretest-posttest design was employed, utilizing a convenience sample of undergraduate nursing students. Participants completed assessments to measure their awareness, knowledge, and confidence levels before and after the educational intervention.

There was a statistically significant increase in awareness of prevalence of health conditions that increase dementia risk (p = 0.002) and prevalence of dementia (p = 0.02) within communities of color; increase in confidence in ability to educate Hispanic patients diagnosed with dementia (p = 0.003); and increase in the mean knowledge of dementia within the Hispanic population.

These findings support the data-driven change of integrating this educational intervention into the nursing curriculum to prepare nurses for delivering culturally competent care. This initiative is an important step to empower future nurses to improve health outcomes and ensure equitable care for vulnerable populations in professional practice.