Musyimi, Christine W., Muyela, Levi A., Ndetei, David M., Evans-Lacko, Sara 
ORCID: 0000-0003-4691-2630 and Farina, Nicolas
(2024)
Acceptability and feasibility of a community dementia stigma reduction program in Kenya.
Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 100 (2).
699 - 711.
ISSN 1387-2877
Abstract
Background: Dementia stigma has adverse effects on people with dementia and their carers. These effects can lead to poor quality of life among other negative impacts. Objective: The aim of this study is to develop and pilot a novel dementia stigma reduction intervention in rural Kenya, leveraging existing Community Health Workers (CHWs) for its delivery. Methods: The pre-post pilot study was conducted, utilizing a parallel mixed-methods design. Ten CHWs were trained to deliver a contextually developed dementia anti-stigma intervention. These CHWs delivered four workshops to 59 members of the general public in Makueni County, with each workshop lasting between 1.5 to 2 hours. Focus group discussions and pre/post surveys were used as measures. Results: The intervention was well received amongst the participants, particularly in terms of its format and accessibility. We observed the largest effects in reducing negative beliefs related to treatment (η2 = 0.34), living well with dementia (η2 = 0.98), and care (η2 = 0.56) for the general public post intervention. Improvements to attitudes were also observed in the CHWs, but the effect sizes were typically smaller. Conclusions: The intervention was accessible and feasible in rural Kenya, while also showing preliminary benefits to stigma related outcomes. The findings indicate that culturally sensitive interventions can be delivered in a pragmatic and context specific manner, thus filling an important knowledge gap in addressing stigma in low-resource settings. Future research is needed to ascertain the intervention's long-term benefits and whether it tackles important behavioral outcomes and beliefs deeply ingrained within communities.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Official URL: | https://content.iospress.com/journals/journal-of-a... |
| Additional Information: | © 2024 - IOS Press. All rights reserved. |
| Divisions: | Personal Social Services Research Unit |
| Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine |
| Date Deposited: | 05 Aug 2024 09:54 |
| Last Modified: | 17 Aug 2024 00:03 |
| URI: | http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/124463 |
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