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Learning from Participation in a Community-based Dementia Café among Nurs-
ing Students Who Are Dementia Supporters

M. Nishimura, M. Yamamoto, and Y. Kuwahara 1
1
1
Faculty of Medicine, Academic Group of Life Sciences School of Nursing, Kagawa University, Japan
1

Background: In Japan approximately one in five adults aged 65 or older suffers from dementia. The
Japanese government has promoted the training of dementia supporters in dementia policies. The
gerontological nursing course of the university the authors belong to has also provided training of
dementia supporters for second-year students in cooperation with local government bodies.
Although these supporters are expected to contribute to the community, they have few opportunities
to be involved in the community. We learned a lot through participation in a dementia café, and report
further results of our efforts here.

Objective: This study aims to describe what nursing students who are dementia supporters learned
from participation in a community-based dementia café.

Methods: We employed a retrospective qualitative descriptive design. Seven third- and fourth-year
nursing students who were dementia supporters participated in the study. Reports that the
participants wrote after participating in a dementia café were qualitatively and inductively analyzed.
The authors declare no conflicts of interest associated with this manuscript.

Results: The learning of the participants was categorized into four: “Real issues and conflicts for
dementia caregivers,” “Function of dementia cafe,” “Dementia care to place importance on
personhood,” and “Growth as a nursing student and further challenges.”

Conclusion: The nursing students improved their understanding of older people with dementia, their
caregivers, and those without dementia living in community, and gained an understanding that the
dementia café has significance for the participants. The students also learned the basic attitude of
conducting dementia care. Further, they felt their own growth through the experience of being able
to interact with older people appropriately, and were able to think of the challenges they will face in
the future. This learning can be a foundation for nursing students to contribute to the community with
confidence by starting with what they can do.

Keywords: dementia cafe, nursing student

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Correspondence: Miho Nishimura, Faculty of Medicine, Academic Group of Life Sciences School of
Poster Presentation Abstracts
Nursing, Kagawa University, Japan
E-mail: nishimura.miho@kagawa-u.ac.jp

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