Abstract:

In the current study, we conducted one-on-one interviews with primary care providers (PCPs) and family care partners (FCPs) and held focus groups with interdisciplinary adult day service center (ADSC) staff to understand the perspectives of care providers across community settings regarding early warning signs of acute illness in persons living with dementia (PLWD). We used content analysis to analyze qualitative data. Warning signs of acute illness in PLWD fell into one of five categories, including new onset changes in (a) physical functions, (b) moods or behaviors (psychological), (c) social interactions, (d) speech, or (e) appearance. FCPs (n=11) focused on physical changes, whereas ADSC staff (n=33) emphasized changes in speech and social interactions in addition to the other categories. Although ADSC staff and PCPs (n=22) focused on changes in functions and moods, each group described these changes differently. ADS staff possess rich information that can be used to identify acute changes in PLWD and describe a broader range of warning signs compared to PCPs and FCPs. FCPs may benefit from further training in distinguishing between normal disease progression and acute illness. Future research should focus on the implementations of standardized tool across community-based care providers to simplify the identification and reporting of early warning signs in PLWD.