A meta-ethnography of dementia care workers' perspectives on the challenges, barriers and rewards to providing long term care: implications for research, policy and practice.

It is estimated that by 2031 over 750,000 Canadians will suffer from Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder, and that currently half of all people with dementia in Canada live in long term care. Thus, the expectations and strains on these institutions and their workers will only increase. Our group at the Geriatric Medicine Research Unit (GMRU) is interested in the quality and availability of continuing education and training for front-line workers who provide long term care (LTC) to dementia patients. An important step in this work is a synthesis of the current knowledge in this area. We propose to conduct a meta-ethnography of qualitative studies on dementia care workers' perspectives of the care they provide, indentifying any commonly reported challenges/barriers/rewards to providing LTC to patients with dementia. Our objectives are: (1) to assess and understand the current state of knowledge, and any gaps in this; (2) to collect and interpret the spectrum of views/themes that emerge; and (3) to assess our findings and ultimately use the information to shape the direction of research, policies educational programs, and daily practice in dementia care in LTC facilities. Qualitative research concerns itself with how people understand and view their world, and our objectives in this require us to understand the perceptions of those who provide the hands-on daily care to dementia patients. The GMRU has an experienced team of qualitative analysts to assist the Nominated Principal Applicant, who is a clinician-scientist with a background in qualitative and quantitative work, and who is the Principal Investigator of the Canadian Dementia Knowledge Translation Network. Our Applicants and Decision Makers come from a variety of backgrounds that include geriatrics, long term care, emergency medicine, provincial health legislation, and nursing, and are committed to participating from synthesis to the translation into useful tools for dementia care workers.