How people come to recognise a problem and seek medical help for a person showing early signs of dementia: a systematic review and meta-ethnography
Evidence suggests that there is usually a long delay between noticing first signs of dementia and seeking medical help. We conducted a systematic review of what people experience and how they make decisions during this time, and used a meta-ethnographic approach to synthesise the findings. Screening...
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| Format: | Article |
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SAGE
2016
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31394/ |
| _version_ | 1848794192302571520 |
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| author | Perry-Young, Lucy Owen, Gareth Kelly, Susan Owens, Christabel |
| author_facet | Perry-Young, Lucy Owen, Gareth Kelly, Susan Owens, Christabel |
| author_sort | Perry-Young, Lucy |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Evidence suggests that there is usually a long delay between noticing first signs of dementia and seeking medical help. We conducted a systematic review of what people experience and how they make decisions during this time, and used a meta-ethnographic approach to synthesise the findings. Screening and quality assessment resulted in nine studies eligible for inclusion. People with dementia mainly report experiencing memory lapses, while carers focus on more subtle changes in personality. People respond to these changes in one of three ways: 1) they discount them as normal; 2) they reserve judgement as to their cause and significance, or 3) they misattribute them. Pivotal events can finally trigger help seeking. Active reflection and seeking of further evidence may lead to earlier recognition of the possibility of dementia and the need to seek help; it also reduces the risk of a pivotal event. Public education should aim to improve recognition of more subtle signs and to encourage repeated evaluation and reflection. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:12:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-31394 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:12:17Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | SAGE |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-313942020-05-04T17:32:35Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31394/ How people come to recognise a problem and seek medical help for a person showing early signs of dementia: a systematic review and meta-ethnography Perry-Young, Lucy Owen, Gareth Kelly, Susan Owens, Christabel Evidence suggests that there is usually a long delay between noticing first signs of dementia and seeking medical help. We conducted a systematic review of what people experience and how they make decisions during this time, and used a meta-ethnographic approach to synthesise the findings. Screening and quality assessment resulted in nine studies eligible for inclusion. People with dementia mainly report experiencing memory lapses, while carers focus on more subtle changes in personality. People respond to these changes in one of three ways: 1) they discount them as normal; 2) they reserve judgement as to their cause and significance, or 3) they misattribute them. Pivotal events can finally trigger help seeking. Active reflection and seeking of further evidence may lead to earlier recognition of the possibility of dementia and the need to seek help; it also reduces the risk of a pivotal event. Public education should aim to improve recognition of more subtle signs and to encourage repeated evaluation and reflection. SAGE 2016-01-12 Article PeerReviewed Perry-Young, Lucy, Owen, Gareth, Kelly, Susan and Owens, Christabel (2016) How people come to recognise a problem and seek medical help for a person showing early signs of dementia: a systematic review and meta-ethnography. Dementia . ISSN 1741-2684 Alzheimer’s disease dementia help-seeking behaviour illness behaviour meta-ethnography http://dem.sagepub.com/content/early/2016/01/12/1471301215626889.full.pdf+html doi:10.1177/1471301215626889 doi:10.1177/1471301215626889 |
| spellingShingle | Alzheimer’s disease dementia help-seeking behaviour illness behaviour meta-ethnography Perry-Young, Lucy Owen, Gareth Kelly, Susan Owens, Christabel How people come to recognise a problem and seek medical help for a person showing early signs of dementia: a systematic review and meta-ethnography |
| title | How people come to recognise a problem and seek medical help for a person showing early signs of dementia: a systematic review and meta-ethnography |
| title_full | How people come to recognise a problem and seek medical help for a person showing early signs of dementia: a systematic review and meta-ethnography |
| title_fullStr | How people come to recognise a problem and seek medical help for a person showing early signs of dementia: a systematic review and meta-ethnography |
| title_full_unstemmed | How people come to recognise a problem and seek medical help for a person showing early signs of dementia: a systematic review and meta-ethnography |
| title_short | How people come to recognise a problem and seek medical help for a person showing early signs of dementia: a systematic review and meta-ethnography |
| title_sort | how people come to recognise a problem and seek medical help for a person showing early signs of dementia: a systematic review and meta-ethnography |
| topic | Alzheimer’s disease dementia help-seeking behaviour illness behaviour meta-ethnography |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31394/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31394/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31394/ |