The intersection of culture in the provision of dementia care: A systematic review

Aims and objectives: To understand the intersection of healthcare professionals’ and care workers’ culture and their provision of person‐centred care for people with dementia. Background: Due to the nature of global immigration and recruitment strategies, health care is provided by a culturally diverse workforce. Consequently, there is a need to understand healthcare professionals’ and care workers’ cultural values of illness, disease and dementia. Cultural values and beliefs regarding dementia and care of the older person differ, and currently, there is a lack of clarity regarding the intersection of culture in the provision of person‐centred dementia care. Method: A search of the following databases was completed: Medline, CINAHL, Psychology and Behavioural Sciences, PsycINFO and PubMed for papers published from 1st January 2006 to 31st July 2016. Results: A total of seven qualitative studies met the inclusion and exclusion criteria, all explored the impact of healthcare professionals’ and care workers’ culture in relation to their provision of person‐centred dementia care. A meta‐synthesis of the data from these studies identified four themes: cultural perceptions of dementia, illness and older people; impact of cultural perceptions on service use; acculturation of the workforce; and cross‐cultural communication. Conclusion: Limited evidence was found on the impact of healthcare professionals’ and care workers’ culture on their provision of person‐centred dementia care. The intersection of culture and dementia included the understanding of dementia, care and family roles. Acculturation of migrant healthcare workers to the culture of the host country, workplace, and support with the communication was identified as necessary for the provision of person‐centred dementia care. Relevance to clinical practice: Open access education and training to support communication is required, alongside the development of robust interventions to support the process of acculturation of migrant healthcare professionals and care workers to provide culturally competent person‐centred dementia care