ABSTRACT #37

MEDICAL AND GRADUATE STUDENT PERCEPTIONS OF DEMENTIA FOLLOWING AN ELECTIVE COURSE WITH A VIRTUAL ART PROGRAM FOR PEOPLE WITH DEMENTIA (PWD) AND CAREGIVERS

Mahalya Gogerly-Moragoda, Emily Xu, Carolyn Halpin-Healy, Helen Fernandez

PURPOSE AND GOALS: As of 2022, approximately ten percent of older adults live with Alzheimer’s dementia, yet a shortage of dementia care specialists results in insufficient care for PWD and their families. This shortage is in part due to limited educational opportunities for medical students to learn about the experience of PWD and how to best care for them and their families. Clinicians-in-training who are able to develop early positive attitudes towards PWD are more likely to choose related careers. The purpose of our study was to examine changes in student perceptions of dementia following a virtual elective course with a virtual museum-based art program. By exploring creative ways of caring for PWD, clinicians-in-training can learn to develop an appreciation for the human behind the dementia diagnosis, and may influence career decisions.

METHODS: Preclinical medical and graduate students enrolled in a virtual elective humanities course consisting of 3 didactic sessions and 1 virtual museum-based art program with PWD and their caregivers during the 2021-2022 academic year.

EVALUATION PLAN: The Dementia Attitudes Scale (DAS) was administered pre- and post-course to evaluate student attitudinal shifts in knowledge and comfort with dementia, along with a qualitative survey.

SUMMARY OF RESULTS: Seven students attended the introductory lecture, with four attending a virtual museum-based art program and completing the course. There was no significant difference (p = 0.13) in DAS scores before and after completion of the course (pre-course mean = 111.3 [SD 8.85] vs post-course mean = 127.8 [SD 10.5]). Qualitative analysis revealed several themes relating to the impact of the programming on perspectives of dementia, including increased confidence and desire to work with PWD.

REFLECTIVE CRITIQUE: While earlier research supports increased knowledge and comfort following inperson experiences, our virtual intervention yielded no significant differences in knowledge and comfort with PWD among students who participated in the virtual museum-based art program. This suggests a need for more research on the impact of virtual programming on perspectives of dementia when interacting with PWD in non-clinical settings.