The Kids4Dementia education program is effective in improving children's attitudes towards dementia

Authors

Jess Baker, University of New South Wales
Belinda J. Goodenough, University of WollongongFollow
Yun-Hee Jeon, University of SydneyFollow
Christine Bryden, Charles Sturt University
Karen Hutchinson, University of Sydney
Lee-Fay Low, University of SydneyFollow

RIS ID

132372

Publication Details

Baker, J. R., Goodenough, B., Jeon, Y., Bryden, C., Hutchinson, K. & Low, L. (2019). The Kids4Dementia education program is effective in improving children's attitudes towards dementia. Dementia: the international journal of social research and practice, 18 (5), 1777-1789.

Abstract

Improving children’s understanding of people with dementia is essential for tackling societal stigma around dementia. Kids4Dementia is a teacher-led multimedia dementia education resource for 9–12 year olds (approximately 150 minutes duration). A non-randomised, waitlist-controlled, mixed-methods design examined whether Kids4Dementia was (1) efficacious in improving students” attitudes towards people with dementia and (2) engaging and acceptable for teachers and students. Students who completed Kids4Dementia (n = 136) showed improved scores on the Kids Insight into Dementia Survey, relative to the control school (n = 67), especially students who had not heard of dementia before (Time × Group × Dementia Familiarity interaction, F(1, 191) = 5.28, p = .023, partial η² = .027). Qualitative reports indicated that the program was acceptable and engaging for teachers and students and corroborated improvement in student empathy and behavioural intentions towards people with dementia. The findings provide preliminary evidence for the efficacy of Kids4Dementia as an engaging, stakeholder-directed, curriculum-aligned dementia education program.